Supergirl: Legacy Of Krypton
by Jamcov
Summary: Armed with a Red Lantern ring and resigning from the DEO, Kara looks to Lena to provide support and keep her erratic mind in check. Time ticks away as her life hangs in the balance with a constant battle for her own mind. The two of them have to look to a group of unlikely allies to unravel the mysteries of the remaining World Killers and protect the Earth from their wrath.
1. Cues

_This is part 2 of a story. Part 1 is called "Supergirl: Prometheus"_

 _You're welcome to start here but it may take a few chapters to get the gist of the story events leading up to this point._

* * *

The clattering of pool balls whacking together filled the bar. They broke cleanly and one rolled gently into a pocket.

"I'm stripes," Lena said. She looked at the table, thinking about her next shot. There was an easy one lined up, the ball inviting her to knock it in. She hesitated, there was no good follow-up if she managed to pot it. Her usual opponent tended to need one opportunity to clean up the entire table and would be smug about it to boot. Her search for a safer shot drew her eyes away and over to her current challenger. Kara stood close with a cue dangling loosely in her hand. The light of the bright lamp hanging above bounced off her glasses as she bent over to inspect it. Kara took in the rest of the place with a frown. Lena stood up straight and rested on her cue, Kara's judgement of the place was fun to watch. There had been a few improvements made over the past month, the wooden beams were now accompanied by a fake fireplace and antique bookshelves filled up with leather-bound books. Lew, the owner, had put these up at Lena's suggestion. She never expected to be taken seriously and was mostly joking when she did it. Despite the new furniture making the cramped layout even smaller, it added to the classic and homey feel Lena had grown to love. The sun was poking out of the gridded windows at the front, brightening the usual dim booths with their faded leather.

Besides Lew, who was reading behind the bar, they were the only two there. Her nose wrinkled slightly as Kara eventually turned back to the table and caught her watching. Lena coughed and quickly leaned back down, glancing at Kara again before potting the easy shot.

"Why are we here?" Kara said. Her voice filled the space with ease, Lew glanced up from his book. Lena played with the smooth cue as she looked back down at the table, all the straight shots were blocked one way or another. She ignored the table for a moment to address her.

"You said you wanted to meet," she said.

"Well yes, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind," Kara said, her mouth pouting to one side. Lena had to admit to herself that she probably should have warned her that The Cheshire was less lavish than her usual suggestions. Kara's cute dress sense stuck out like a sore thumb in this part of the city. Her usual bookish, bright jumper and skirt made it look like she never ventured outside a library let alone spent time in some obscure dive. She had to remind herself that underneath the unthreatening charm was the raging power of Supergirl. Even after a month she struggled to process that's who her closest friend had been the whole time.

"Sure it's not the usual fare but I like it here, it's cosy and quiet," she said.

"It's certainly quiet," Kara said.

"Give it a chance," she said, bouncing the cue ball off a wall and tapping a striped ball. "Your shot." Kara did not look convinced but still bent down to the table. Inexperience showed as she lined up the shot poorly and her ball bounced gently off the side of the pocket. Kara grunted in annoyance and clenched her fist.

"Maybe pool was a bad idea," Lena said, weary of her temper.

"No, it's alright," Kara said looking down at her hand. "I'm just getting used to this place… and you in it." Lena looked at herself.

"What?" she said.

"Jeans, trainers, plain t-shirt, letting your hair down. It's odd seeing you like this," Kara said. Lena shrugged.

"I can't be a fashion icon all the time," she said, looking back to the table. The shot she wanted to take was at an awkward angle. She walked round the table, Kara side-stepped. The felt pressed against her hand as she adjusted herself, practically mounting the table to line up properly. She pushed up onto her toes with her planted foot, nearly slipping in the process. Kara caught her and a shiver went down her spine.

"I'm good, I'm good," Lena said, doing her best to remain composed. Kara let her go and despite the overwhelming distraction, she just about potted the shot.

"Maybe I should have let you fall," Kara said. Lena pushed off the table and brushed herself off. Kara was smiling, it was nice to see. Frustratingly, Kara always kept a certain emotional distance these days. She knew it was not fair to hold it against her, the search for Mon-El had gone nowhere and that power ring of hers put her on edge at all times. The whole reason Kara had come to her with her biggest secret was for emotional support. Apparently, Lena was the only one able to somewhat stifle the rage and revenge obsessed ring's hold over her. She was happy to be such an important part of her life. Although it was not so easy to deal with, trying to get closer to her might not only ruin their relationship but also ran the great risk of an extreme backlash. Kara had told her the worst-case scenario was the ring outright rejecting her, if that happened she would die. She tried not to think about how bizarre her personal life had become as she sunk another shot.

"This is looking like it'll be a short game anyway," Kara said. Lena moved round. The ball she was aiming for was pressed up against the wall. She took a deep breath and the weight of the cue in her hand lightened as she brought It forward carefully. The cue ball moved smoothly and the gentle contact rolled her target toward the pocket, but it stopped before it could reach. Lena put her head on the table, she could never get those shots quite right. Kara still seemed impressed.

"Since when were you such a pool-shark anyway? I thought it was all chess and high society in the Luthor household."

"It was, and I'm not that good," she said, flashing back to the many games she had since frequenting The Cheshire. The locals always trounced her, apart from Gary, they were evenly matched.

Kara looked pleased with herself as she clattered in the shot she had missed earlier, even managing a successful follow-up. She sighed.

"Hey, that was a good shot," Lena said, confused at Kara's despair. Kara put the cue down.

"This wasn't supposed to be a social call or a session to calm me down," she said. Lena was taken aback.

"You aren't embracing the ring again are you?" She said, knowing what had happened to Sam.

"It's not that, the ring has actually mostly behaved itself." They both looked to where it would be, Kara had the power to make it invisible but it was always there to play on her mind. Kara lowered her voice and leant in close. Lena could smell her perfume and the hair on the back of her neck stood up as she felt Kara's breath so close to her.

"I think it's time you let me in on the World Killer investigation," she said. Lena's shoulders slumped as she backed off and shook her head.

"You know why you can't do that," she said.

"It's been a month and there's been no progress," Kara said.

"You have to be patient, I get that the ring is torture but your involvement could be disastrous," she said.

"You can't understand what this thing is like," Kara said. Lena leaned her cue against the table.

"I'm sorry, poor choice of words. But you know that mad cult will get even crazier if they get a whiff of a Kryptonian on their case," she said.

"I'll do it as Kara and I'll be careful," Kara said. Lena looked into her eyes, there was a strong determination in them that was hard to deny.

"Just give it a bit more time," Lena said. Kara said nothing. It hurt to put her through it, but the emotional strain of dealing with the World Killers would be a lot for her. All the hard work to control herself might be undone in a single moment. Reign alone had dismembered Alex, nearly killed her and Lena's own experience of trauma at the World Killer's hands lingered in her mind. As it was her job to keep Kara under control, she had remained adamant that Kara steer clear as it was such potent fuel for the ring. The Kryptonian argument was useful to hide behind, but Lena herself was getting frustrated at how little she knew about it all. She was determined for that to change.

Lena gave her a quick hug and spoke at a normal level again.

"Now come on, you've got another shot," she said, handing Kara her cue. Kara looked at it, then to Lena. She reluctantly turned back to the table and promptly missed a shot.

"I don't think this is my game," she said.

"You'll improve," Lena said, missing her own shot.

"Not going easy out of pity are you?" Kara said.

"You know I'm far too sore of a loser to do that," she said. Kara smiled again, she expected it to take more effort to dissuade her from the World Killers. Her impatience was understandable, the main reason she kept the rage ring was because there were three more out there somewhere. It amplified her powers immensely and without it they would all be at the mercy of the World Killer's, if they ever showed themselves.

She watched Kara take another shot, it skimmed the ball and covered the middle pocket. She sneered when she looked away from the table. Lena assumed she had been unhappy with the shot as she leant over for her own. She eyed the ball at the opposite end of the table, her chin was close to the wooden edge and she concentrated on getting the right feel of the cue. Just as she brought it forward, a voice bellowed across the bar.

"Hello ladies." The sudden noise caused her to totally mishit and her face dropped as she watched Kara's ball roll into the pocket. She stood up and turned to the familiar voice.

"Thanks for that," she said. She looked to Kara, who had an impressive amount of disdain painted all over her face.

"Oddball," she said, her voice matched her expression.

"Pleasure as always, Danvers," he said. As usual he wore a plain hoodie, this one was green. She liked to imagine his wardrobe was entirely made up of different coloured hoodies. "Either of you want a drink?"

"I'll have a coke," Lena said.

"Coke for Lena, and you," he said, pointing to Kara.

"I'll…" her head cocked slightly. "Actually, I was just leaving."

"You sure?" He said. Lena looked at her inquisitively, it was the face she made when she was about to rush off to be Supergirl. She may have sensed something, but the timing was convenient enough for her to suspect she was faking it to get away from him. Either way, Kara had practically committed to being Supergirl full time at this point.

"Yeah, work-phone just went. I should go," she said.

"It's Sunday," he said.

"News doesn't take the weekend off, Oddball," Kara said. She walked round to Lena. "Talk to you soon?"

"Of course," Lena said. Kara gathered her things and made a hasty exit. Oddball and Lena leaned against the table and watched her leave.

"I think I'm winning her over," he said.

"She can't stand you," Lena said as the door swung shut.


	2. Knowing

"Coke. Just coke?" He said.

"Yes, just coke," she said. He sauntered up to the bar. Lew poured her drink without looking away from the book followed by an impressive display of a bottle having its cap removed in a single motion with one hand. He took a swig from his and handed her the drink.

"You're actually having a beer at 2:30 in the afternoon?" She said.

"I've been up since 5am yesterday, so technically it's still my Saturday night," he said, looking over the pool table. "Didn't even finish the game, mind if I take over?" Lena handed him a cue.

"You're not supposed to be here for another hour, Oddball never turns up on time," she said.

"If you told me you were sneaking in a date with Danvers I would have left you to it, as it stands Monarch is more of a wildcard" he said. Keeping up with his persona and name shenanigans was always a chore. He potted his first shot, the cue ball ricocheted back and slowed to a perfect position for his next attempt.

"It wasn't a date. She said she needed to talk to me, so I suggested meeting at The Cheshire. I mean I needed to be here anyway," she said.

"Uh-huh," he said with another flawless shot. He stood up straight, narrowly avoiding the low-hanging light over the table.

"So she just calls and you go out to meet her, then she just leaves on a whim…" Lena stopped him from moving to his next shot.

"I'm happy with where we're at right now," she said, barely convincing herself. He took her shoulders and looked right at her.

"You told her how you felt and now she's keeping you on the hook, I didn't think you'd stand for that sort of treatment," he said. Lena hesitated, before she said anything he shoved her out of the way to take his next shot. The push had absolutely nothing in it, but it caught her off-guard.

"It's not like that, I have my own doubts about moving forward," she said.

"Shouldn't you be telling her that," he said as his third shot clunked in.

"There's a lot of recent… complications," she said, unsure of how to explain the more specific problems with Kara.

"Is it the glasses thing?" He said, not looking up from the table. Lena's eyes narrowed, if he was implying what she thought he was implying then it solved the explanation problem. It was certainly like him to drop this sort of knowledge so casually, although usually he would wait for a drink to be in her mouth to do it. She knew better than to give the game away immediately.

"What's this about glasses?" She said.

"She takes them off from time to time," he said. Her expression immediately dropped to one of bemusement.

"We've done this enough times for you to know I hate it when you're coy," she said. He checked behind him to see it was still just the two of them. Lew was there not paying attention, though he would never say anything anyway.

"The fact she's flying about crime-fighting shouldn't get in the way of a relationship, surely you considered that before diving in," he said, raising an eyebrow. She had no idea how to respond. The light blinked a few times as she failed to speak from several attempts.

"I, uh… how do you know about that?" was all she could muster.

"Seriously?" He paused and eyed her suspiciously. "Wait… You didn't know until after…." He said, snorting slightly.

"Answer the question," she said with a slight bobble in her voice, it destroyed any authority she might have had. She turned red as he burst out laughing. It echoed around the bar and Lew tried to block it out by shifting over his stool.

She simmered as he calmed himself down, he looked at her and nearly started off all over again, a well-timed glare shut him down and he went back to the table.

"When did you work it out?" she said, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"I spoke to her as Supergirl. Not only were both her and Kara ridiculously protective of you, but more importantly she doesn't even hide her face… or voice… or change her attitude that much…" he said.

"You said glasses made a good disguise," she said, trying to salvage any kind ofdignity from the situation.

"Not when you know the person that well and not when you know to look for it," he said. He started laughing again. "How did she even show you? Did she whip off her glasses and say "look it's me"?"

"No… as Supergirl she changed clothes and tied her hair back… no glasses involved," she said, diving into her drink to avoid eye-contact. When she looked back at him his hand was over his mouth. "It's not funny." He slid his hand down.

"It's a little funny," he said.

"Shut up," she said. After an endless silence of Monarch mostly succeeding in not laughing, a question popped out.

"Wait, she got changed in front of you after basically turning you down? That's…"

"It's not like that, she said, cutting off this particular line of enquiry before it could start. "She has the power to materialise and breakdown certain things, clothes included. It's instantaneous and doesn't show anything off," she said.

"Huh. What a bizarrely specific power," he said. She figured if he knew about Supergirl then the ring would not be much of a secret. In a way it was a relief to have someone else know. Whilst he started out as just a contact, they had gotten to know each other well. Meetings like these were supposed to be about information but they ended up just being relaxing. Kara meant the world to her, but with Monarch there was no pressure. She watched him clatter in his final ball, leaving only the black for the win. Her own ball blocked a direct shot so he walked around the table, checking lines off the wall.

"But back on topic. You, an actual genius, failed to work out who Supergirl was when more often than not, the answer was literally staring you in the face," he said. Lena passed the cue between her hands and looking at the floor.

"I guess I assumed she'd have told me something that big earlier," she said.

"Ah, trust issues," he said.

"Hmph" she said. It was non-committal. Despite the statement being obvious she was feeling too sheepish to be snarky. Monarch had also proven himself to be very perceptive in their past little meetups.

"I take it there's more problems, otherwise you'd have just talked to her about it," he said. She was in it now, no use holding back.

"You know how Supergirl is flying about with the red uniform and that weird new ring?" She said.

"Yeah," he said. Lining up for his final shot.

"Well that ring is powered by her rage and taps into a dangerous side of her. It makes her extremely temperamental and going against that thing's will could seriously weaken her." She stopped to clear her throat, saying it out loud was harder than she thought. "It could even kill her."

He looked away from his shot and raised his bottle to her.

"So you have to balance your feelings with her whacked-out mind. Yeah that's a tough one," He took a sip.

"It's hard on me. Though it's harder on her. That's why I have to be there for her, no-one else can keep her grounded like I can," she said. It really was therapeutic to talk about, despite Monarch's unusual approach it was a real blessing that he worked it out himself. The only person she would have trusted something this deep with was Kara, for obvious reasons that had not been an option.

"Well you're doing a good thing. Also S.G. eluded to that ring being a bit weird when she talked to Prometheus, so I've actually done some asking around about it," he said, Lena perked up, happy to let yet another drop of knowledge he had kept to himself slide by.

"What have you found?" She said, hoping to get some sort of insight.

"Not a lot on red, apparently most people that encounter them don't live to tell the tale," he said.

"That's the opposite of reassuring," she said, her mood immediately dropping.

"Let me finish. There's other rings that work in a similar way, powered by different emotions. Those green guys that have shown up recently, their rings are Willpower. There's also blue, which is hope, and yellow, which runs on creating fear in others. Turns out the yellows are run by some guy named Sinestro. He's out to destroy the greens and bring proper order to the universe. Sounds like a tool if you ask me," he said.

"Do I want to know how you know this?" she said.

"Pretty simple actually, you ask aliens what they know about it and piece together from there. But I think the bit you'll really want to hear…" he looked at her as he shot his cue forward. "Is I think I've found someone who can explain the whole damn thing, red included." The cue ball hit the wall and tapped the black cleanly. He smiled at her as it rolled toward the pocket. It hit the edge and bounced lightly away. It was Lena's turn to smirk as she glanced at the black ball, then back to him. Monarch's face dropped as the ball sat there, passively mocking him.

"Damn it. Got too cocky," he said. Lena looked at the table, it was now nothing but open shots. If she played it right the game was hers for the taking. She took a deep breath, noticing it always had a mild and pleasant pine smell in The Cheshire. She grabbed the chalk from the top of the light, the quiet grinding putting her at ease. She was convinced it made no difference to her game but it was something that people seemed to do.

"Whilst it's certainly useful for me, aren't you supposed to be chasing World Killers?" She said, making her first pot with ease.

"Urgh, that's boring," he said. She stood tall pointing the cue at him as she spoke, her free hand carelessly waving around.

"No, we always do this. We talk about my life, then end up getting drunk or going home without even addressing the whole point of meeting in the first place," she said.

"I thought the point of the meetings was to talk about your life, it's always Kara this and L-Corp that," he said. His delivery was deadpan and his face was hard to read. He was Standing in shadow, taller than the dangling light. She was sure he was winding her up.

"Whatever. I'm asking now. What progress have you made with the Krypton cult?" she said. Aggressively shooting at another ball to emphasise her point. The satisfying clack echoed slightly as it angled the ball nicely in a middle pocket.

"Can't we just skip to the getting drunk thing?" He said.

"It's the afternoon and if I don't give Kara something soon she'll start investigating herself or exploding, maybe both," she said. He sighed.

"Fine. But promise me you won't let her anywhere near this. It's for her own good."

"I'm not forcing anything, it's not like I could stop her anyway. Hell she might even be able to help you," she said.

"No, she's too close to all this. Besides she brings those D.E.O. hacks with her and they'll wreck everything," he said. The fact he still was out of the loop regarding Kara's dissociation with them was something she held onto, a useful reminder that he was not actually all-knowing. His hatred for the D.E.O. was usually quite entertaining but this was one of the few times he came across totally serious.

"I'll do my best but no promises," she said. There was no way she was going to pick a side between him and Kara unless she absolutely had too.

"It'll do I guess," he said, promptly changing his tone. He took another swig of beer. Whilst he did not seem totally satisfied, she reckoned deep down he liked having someone to talk too as well. From what little she had garnered about his past, it sounded lonely. According to him, she was one of the few people that even knew he used more than one name.

"Krypton cult, I've been on the fringes for an age. They've been around a long time and used to keep themselves. They think anything associated with that stupid planet is holy and worthy of awe. I Knew the leader, bloke named Thomas Coville, he was a moron," he said.

"Knew? Was?" Lena said, potting her final ball. Nothing but the black was left.

"Died from being a moron. When the Daxamites invaded, him and a few followers saw it as their sacred duty to Krypton to fight them off armed with nothing but faith. Funnily enough they didn't last long," he said.

"Your tact always impresses me," Lena said. Monarch ignored her little aside.

"Whilst he was a moron, he at least knew that hurting innocents and meddling with alien tech was a no-no. A lesson he didn't teach their new leader," he said.

"Makes sense, Reign didn't emerge until after the Daxamite invasion. You think they hoarded artefacts and this new leader activated or summoned her somehow?" She said.

"That's my thinking, the idiot probably did it by accident. Problem is I'm not close enough yet to get anything concrete. I'm doing what I can but avoiding their weird-arse initiation rituals means progress is slow," he said.

"How close are you? Who knows what else they could unleash," she said.

"Well another other dead moron that clued me in the first place seemed adamant the World Killers were the worst of it. Sent to cleanse the Earth or whatever. I'm closing in on it, I just need more time with their members," he said.

"You better work fast, or it could be game over for all of us," she said as she shot at the black. He clapped slowly as the ball dropped into the pocket.

"Points for dramatic flair," he said. They put the cues down and moved to a booth.

"So is getting drunk still on the table?" he said.

"Sorry, I've got a meeting later. It's also still the afternoon," she said.

"Does everyone work on Sundays?" He said.

"Don't you?" She said. Now she could see him a bit more clearly there were massive bags under his eyes and his stubble was slightly more unruly than usual. His casual demeanour was more of a tired one.

"I don't adhere to business hours, or any hours. In fact I like to think time follows me," he said.

"I've noticed," she said rolling her eyes. "It isn't that sort of meeting anyway. I've got talks with another Super and a former World Killer," she said.

"I still want to question her," he said.

"It's better if you wait a bit longer," she said. Inflicting Monarch on Sam at this stage would be a recipe for disaster, she could barely manage Sam on her own let alone keeping him in line.

"Besides, have you looked at yourself? You need to get some sleep," she said. He groaned.

"Can't we stay a little longer?" He said. She checked her watch and looked over at a disinterested Lew.

"Alright, I'll stay til I finish my coke. And I guess I wouldn't want to go without getting in some gloating about finally beating you at pool." She took a long sip. The cold coke tasted all the sweeter as she let out a satisfied "ah."

"I started with more balls on the table, if anything it only counts as half," he said. She ignored him as she put her hands behind her head and leant back, sliding down the leather. She let the bubbles of victory tingle on her tongue as Monarch protested further.


	3. Care

Time always flew in The Cheshire and before she knew it she had to rush home. Kara had always insisted her apartment was immaculate but there was always something she found to tidy. Magazines not stacked right, a laptop where it should not be or furniture not quite at the right angle. The open-plan apartment with its muted colours bathed in the sunlight and brightened the modern space. She used to practically live in her office but now she was somehow seeing even less of this apartment. Her time was spent in labs, bars and wherever Kara needed her.

She had changed into something a bit smarter, making the effort for Superman. He was running late so all she could do was wait around with nothing to do except anticipate the arrival. The pressure she tended to feel in this anticipation faded the moment he would actually show, but that urge to impress him was always there. She thought it stemmed from guilt over her brother, Monarch's theory was that anything related to Kara turned her brain to mush and her logical mind went out the window. She was sure that she could keep her cool in these situations, but aspects of it could possibly, partially be true.

She checked herself in the mirror whilst waiting, thinking that her outfit was perhaps too formal for a Sunday afternoon. She took out her earrings out and switched to a more comfortable jacket. As she thought about changing shoes there was a knock at the door. Opening it revealed the tall, broad and smiling Clark Kent.

"Hi there, come in," she said.

"Can't. I'm in a rush. Lois is supposed to be looking after Ruby, but she's running late," he said. Lena looked puzzled.

"So you flew from Metropolis, without changing, to tell me that in person. You really just need to take my phone number," she said.

"If my boss found out I had your number I'd never here the end of it," he said.

"I can deal with Perry White," she said.

"I was talking about Lois," he said with a smirk. Lena's face dropped. She had always just about managed to deal with the questioning of Lois Lane but the idea of a direct line for her was scary. That woman's ability to dig up hidden truths was uncanny, she was worried about the day she might let something important slip.

"Alright, I yield. I'll be here when you're ready," she said. He glanced at the open window, looking like he was about to launch, but stopped himself.

"Actually, do you want to come with? Ruby is always happy to see you," he said with a smile. Lena ran her hands through her hair, she had spent time on it and a super flight would ruin that in seconds. She looked at the smiling face and thought of Ruby.

"Okay then, just not too fast please," she said.

"No option I'm afraid, got to get back to Ruby and I'm in my civvies," he said as he picked her up. She sighed.

"Let's just get this over with." She had been surprised at how willing Superman was to give away his identity at first. She thought the Luthor name alone would have been enough to put him off. He simply said if Kara trusted her, so did he. She also found out that he had been impressed by her selflessness on that fateful day Reign attacked, she still just thought of it as a terrible plan. Kara did not always like the attention Clark got, but Lena had to admit that being seen as one of the good ones by him was an uplifting thought.

She held on tight as the wind rushed through her hair.

"You okay?" he said. His voice carried easily even as the air whooshed passed her ears. She just nodded and held tighter. The world blurred by and soon enough she was placed back on the ground. She stumbled back, catching herself. They were in an alley of some sort, but that was all she could really tell. Getting one's bearings and staving off dizziness after one of these flights always took a minute or two. Clark's strong hands took a hold of her.

"Thanks, but it'd be more helpful if you stopped moving," she said.

"I'm not," he said.

"Right," she said, waiting for the world to stop moving around her. She held Clark's wrist as her senses re-aligned and her legs became reliable again.

"One day I'll get used to that," she said.

"At that speed, people never do," he said. She whipped out a mirror and did what she could with her hair. Attempts to smooth it down were more successful than usual.

The crunch of broken glass beneath her feet sounded out as she looked to escape the smell of overflowing bins of the alley.

"Couldn't land somewhere nicer?" she said.

"There were maintenance staff on the roof," he said. She had always thought two people emerging from an alley together looked suspicious but both Monarch and Clark had told her no-one cares enough to notice in those situations. When she brought up the point people were more likely to recognise her, Clark conceded and told her he would be more careful, Monarch told her to watch her ego. She appreciated Clark's sentiment more.

As the streets of Metropolis were presented before her, it felt like it lacked the charm of National city. The spaces and buildings seemed so square. There was a greyness to it all and even the more impressive landmarks had an underwhelming flatness. It was sterile and overly orderly, the traits that probably drew Lex to such a place. Lena was more than happy to relocate the company headquarters away from here. Clark's pace was getting increasingly difficult to keep up with, he was in a rush to get back to Ruby. His worried expression from leaving the very capable Ruby alone for what was probably less than five minutes showed just how much he cared. When she first visited Sam after the transformation, the dilemma of who could care for Ruby was solved instantly. Superman had volunteered without hesitation, it was then Lena saw his true heroism. He did everything in his power to help people, he was not just a flying bruiser like Lex had insisted.

When they arrived at Clark's apartment building he turned to her.

"Do you mind if I rush up the stairs?" He said.

"By all means. Seventh floor, right?"

"Yep, it's not too far down the corridor on the left side. I'll leave the door open," he said, disappearing from view. Not fancying that many flights she called the lift. The useful applications of superspeed ran through her head as she waited for it to arrive. It was quite the generic lobby. The desk was empty but everything was clean and well kept. Clark and Lois did well for themselves to afford somewhere like this in the centre of Metropolis. A lift dinged at her and a few people made their way out. One of the patrons double took as she noticed her but quickly shook it off and went on her way. Lena sidled in and pressed the button, it was rough and a little more worn than the others. She had the space to herself as the smooth jazz kicked in, part of her longed for more exciting music in the lifts she took.

Her journey to Clark's apartment was uninterrupted and she strolled in to an empty living room. She could hear some sort of conversation in one of the other rooms. Clark popped his head around the doorway.

"Make yourself at home, Lois should be here soon," he said.

"Just make sure you're out here when she arrives," she said.

"There's no force in the universe that'd convince me to get in her way if she wants something from you," he said. Lena kicked off her shoes. The carpeted floor was soft on her feet and she sat down on the old sofa.

"Is that Lena?" Ruby's voice carried around the walls.

"Shouldn't you finish that question first?" Clark said.

"It's almost done…," she said. There was a pause.

"Ah, go on then. She won't be here long anyway," he said. Lena chuckled to herself, the man of steel was defenceless against the will of a twelve-year-old.

She scampered over and jumped next to her. Lena narrowly avoided the landing, bouncing up slightly from the impact.

"Easy there," Lena said. Ruby shuffled around, looking pleased with herself.

"Hi Lena," she said. Clark followed her out.

"Don't jump on the sofa," he said. She looked at him sheepishly, he gave a bemused look in return.

"Can I get you something Lena? Tea, coffee?" He said.

"No thanks, I'm fine," she said, Clark disappeared into the kitchen. She was prodded in the arm and turned to an energetic Ruby.

"Do I get to see Mum today?" Ruby said. Lena sucked air through her teeth.

"Sorry Ruby, not today," she said.

"Oh, okay" Ruby said, deflated slightly.

"How's school, I know Metropolis doesn't match up to National City but it must be growing on you, right?" she said, looking to move on quickly. Ruby half-smiled.

"The people here are nice. Oh, and I got an A+ on that science project you helped me with," Ruby said. She could still see her disappointment, but Ruby was trying to hide it.

"Happy to help, but it was all your work," she said, secretly pleased that her own record for flawless grades remained intact. She had not expected to get so involved in Ruby's life after everything was sorted. Kara's sister had been kind enough to use her D.E.O connections to make sure her school transfers and living situation went through without any hitches. It was Ruby herself that needed help settling.

"How are things with Clark and Lois?" She asked. Ruby arched over, looking at the kitchen door.

"I like them, but Clark has really good hearing. I can't get away with anything," Ruby said in a lowered voice. Lena arched over with her, matching her volume.

"Try playing out some sort of quiet, ambient noise on your phone, if you're lucky it'll mask what you're up too," she whispered back. Ruby slowly nodded in understanding and the two of them giggled with each other. Clarks reappeared out of the archway and raised an eyebrow at them.

"See," Ruby said. Lena waved him away.

"Girl talk," she said. Clark feigned a suspicious look. Lena usually felt awkward around kids, but Ruby was mature for her age and it was easy to be the fun one when Clark, Lois and Sam took on the brunt of the parental duties.

There was a sound of a keys jangling and the front door latch, Lois clambered in with several bags.

"Sorry I'm late, Perry is somehow in a worse mood than usual." Monarch's comment about everyone working on a Sunday popped into her mind. Clark strode out and kissed Lois on the cheek, he picked up the bags.

"I'll put these in the kitchen, you want me to cook tonight?" He said.

"No, it's my turn. I just need to put my feet up for a bit," she said. She turned to the sofa.

"Oh, Hi Lena." Lena waved at her. Noticing the giggling Ruby, Lois slumped down on the sofa next to her. "What are you two planning?"

"Nothing," Ruby said, briefly exchanging a sly look with Lena.

"Are you being a bad influence?" Lois said

"Me? Never," Lena said, holding her heart, Ruby giggled again. There was some rummaging in the kitchen and a small crash as some groceries hit the floor. They all ignored Clark's clumsiness, it was common enough that she started to suspect it was not an act. Lois' tired expression turned. She flipped her long, black hair out of her face and an all too familiar grin rose up.

"I don't suppose I could get a quote about your feud with Cat Grant?" she said. Despite the fact Cat Grant was supposed to play no part in the proceedings, behind the scenes she was doing everything in her power to block L-Corp from buying out CatCo. She was taking a lot of flak for the Air Force One incident but seemed determined to make an enemy out of her for some reason. Whether it was out of spite or for an attempted distraction from her political blunder, Lena had no interest or time for such childishness. She ducked behind Ruby.

"Save me Ruby, she's still in reporter mode," Ruby laughed again.

"I'm always in reporter mode," she said.

"Everything's packed up, ready to go?" Clark said, walking out the kitchen. Lena slipped on her shoes and sprang up.

"Ready when you are," she had just been saved by Superman. "It was nice seeing you again," she pointed at Ruby, "Finish that homework." Ruby slumped down and folded her arms.

"Fine," she said.

"After you, Clark said, holding open the door. They waved them goodbye as they marched out and got in the lift.

"She's a good kid," she said.

"She's coping well and thanks to Kara covering pretty much the entire world, I have a lot more free time to spend with her. Me and Lois are no substitute for her mother of course, but we do what we can," he said.

"You're doing a good job with her, trust me," she said.

As they made their way to a more secluded spot, Lena looked away for a moment and Clark was decked out with an S on his chest. The cape flapped lazily behind him.

"Ready for another flight?" He said.

"I thought she was meeting us at one of the labs, I have one here in Metropolis," she said.

"Sorry to drop the change of plan on you, but she's been uneasy. The arm stuff and returning to a normal life has her a bit spooked," he said. Lena ran her hands through her hair. She nodded, her neck started to itch as she mentally prepared herself for a trip to the Fortress of Solitude.


	4. Doubts

The cold bit at her nose, it staved off the flight's disorientation quickly. The doors sparkled and the spikes of ice towered into the sky. She looked up in awe at the Fortress of Solitude, even with its ominous implications it never failed to impress her. The light danced between the shards and glimmered down. Snow crunched as she kicked it away and Superman slowly pushed the heavy door open, she reeled as a cold breeze hit her face from the parted entrance.

"Welcome back," he said, holding out his arm.

"You never get tired of this do you?" She said. Superman cracked a grin.

"I don't get to show this place off much."

Lena walked through. She still shivered despite the icy chill fading. This was the current home of Samantha Arias. That moment where the life was nearly squeezed out of her and her vision faded to black was still so vivid. She resisted the urge to scratch at her neck and muttered the words "you can breathe," to herself. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose. She rubbed her face and the let the air come out of her mouth, the fog from it rose and disappeared to nothing. The warmth of a hand touched her shoulder.

"Do you need a moment?" Superman's soothing voice came through. Even with her coping mechanisms and talking out that moment with Kara many times, facing Sam could still be an uphill struggle. Superman had sussed something was off early on but knew not to pry. She swallowed and shook off another shiver running down her spine.

"How's Sam been doing?" she said. Superman looked concerned but answered regardless.

"Still no sign of Reign, Sam's been herself since I first brought her here," he said. The fact there was no sign of a relapse was a saving grace. Sam had always been apologetic and a bit withdrawn around her. Whilst she had no solid memories of her time as Reign, she had an inkling of what she had done. Their time together had been negligible as she usually dealt with Sam in a scientific capacity and let Ruby do the social heavy lifting. She also felt an element of safety as majority of it was spent in L-Corp facilities, the familiar environment and equipment easing her nerves.

"Did your guy in Wayne Enterprises have any luck with that data?" She said.

"Yes and no. He ran it through the medical and biotech branches, but he's hit the same roadblocks you have. Healing the arm naturally is a lost cause and her pale skin seems to be permanent. On the positive side, he agrees that there's no reason to believe she'll relapse as far as the brain scans go. As for the powers, whatever made her switch seems to have stuck for the most part. She's not quite as strong as before but the yellow sun still has quite the effect on her," he said. Lena had looked over all her results again and again. Sam's biology was mostly Kryptonian but compared to the scans Superman volunteered for and a few wayward files Lex had left around, there were abnormalities and bizarre differences she failed to get her head around.

"If he had any additional findings I'd love to see them. The more data I have, the higher chance I can understand exactly what I'm dealing with. It might even give us clues on how to find the other World Killers," she said.

"I'll try, but he can be difficult when it comes to sharing," he said. Lena nodded.

"Well what's the plan now? I can't do much here," she said.

"I think she needs a bit more encouragement. I've said my piece, but I think it's you that will give her the push she needs," he said.

"I'll try, do you know where she'll be?" She said.

"She tends not to stray too far from her own space, I'll keep an ear out and intervene if it seems like you need it," he said. She thanked him and moved off. As she went he caught her.

"Remember, you don't have to do this if you don't want too," he said, genuine concern in his face.

"I'll be okay," she said.

She remembered the way but moved slowly. Not only did she have her own anxieties to contend with, but the most empathetic man in the world could not get through to Sam. She trusted his judgement but wandering how much of a difference she could make as she delved deeper into the cavern. Sam's area was through a crevice off to the side. The ceiling was low and the narrow walls felt close. The periodic fog of her breath pressed against the ceiling and she lost her footing a few times on the slippery floor. This passage felt like the only part of the fortress that was not grandiose, instead being an extension hastily carved out. It was surprising how dark it was getting as she descended, the bright lights of the cavern and the glow of the sun chamber were usually in sight by now. She finally made it through that endless walk into the large, open cavern. The only light source in the room was the flickering of a tv screen. She spotted the sun chamber lying dormant, the tube would fill room with warm yellow light when it was on. Superman would not tell her much about its origin, but it functioned as rapid healing for Kryptonians. He had used it to save Sam from Kara's onslaught. Prolonged exposure to it had healed her nicely, as well as turned her hair red for some reason. The hair colour change was just biological another mystery Lena had not solved yet.

The furniture and other luxuries Lena had installed here were in their usual places. It gave Sam something to do in her down time, she even ensured there were two beds in case Ruby ever ended up visiting her here. As it stood, Clark had somehow managed to keep his identity a secret from her. Whilst the connection seemed obvious, she was reminded that maybe spotting such things was harder than she thought as her eyes were drawn to the flickering screen. Kara was out in force as Supergirl, the volume was too low to make out much detail, but the gist was some damage control of a natural crisis in Brazil. Sam was standing, watching it intently. Lena cleared her throat, causing Sam to snap round.

"Lena, I didn't hear you come in," she said, scrambling for a remote. She switched off the TV and the lights brightened. Sam smiled nervously. Even with one arm, ghost-white skin and red hair. The woman she had briefly known before the change was recognisable. Lena blinked a few times, her eyes adjusting to the new light level. She focused on the image of Sam that was the kind, dedicated person in an attempt to cast out the memory of Reign.

"So… here we are," she said.

"Yeah…" Sam said.

"I gather you didn't want to come out today," she said.

Sam made a non-committal noise. The two of them stood at a distance, Lena wanted to get closer, but that lingering memory gave her pause.

"Why now, all this time spent recovering only to stop when you reach the end?" she said. Sam sighed and looked at the floor. The silence between them hung in the air.

"I'm worried about going back," Sam said. It was strange, apart from the initial shock, Sam had been surprisingly calm about her circumstances.

"I know it must seem more real than ever, but you'll adjust," she said.

"Maybe," Sam said, looking back at the now blank screen. Lara looked down and shuffled her feet slightly. It was obvious that whatever was making her hold back was not just a matter of simple nerves. She could guess where the source of her worry lay.

"Ruby misses you," she said.

"I miss her…" Sam said.

"You'll get to live with her again, it'll be just like before," she said. Sam cocked her head.

"Is Ruby happy with what she has?" Sam said.

"She wants you back in her life," she said, cautious of Sam's change in tone.

"That's not what I asked," Sam said.

"As happy as she can be, I guess," she said, unsure of what point Sam was after.

"Shouldn't I let her have that a bit longer? A normal life with normal guardians?" Sam said. Lena closed her eyes, with trembling hands and a deep breath she stepped towards her.

"Why all this sudden doubt?" She said. Sam looked to where her arm once was.

"I guess I didn't think I'd be going back so soon. The arm, the skin, any other changes… it's hard but I can take it. But Ruby..."

"She's seen you like this already and it doesn't bother her at all," Lena said.

"Isolated spaces are one thing, and you, Superman, Clark and Lois have been so understanding. But it's everyone else. Ruby will go to school as the kid with the freakish Mum. The woman who terrorized the city, back with a vengeance and a robot arm to boot. What can I do about that? Reassure everyone at the PTA meetings that I have no intention of murdering them? People cowering in fear on a day to day basis? Regular shopping trips turning into drama because Mum draws so much attention. I can't do that to her," Sam said.

"If it helps, during your only major public appearance as Reign you still looked like your old self," Lena said. Her eyes widened, immediately regretting how tactlessly she had worded it. Sam laughed slightly.

"Don't worry, I know you're trying to help," Sam said. "I just want to do what's best for her." Lena took another deep breath, staring at the hand that had been wrapped around her neck that night. She started to feel an itch in her neck but knew she had to soldier through.

"You know how I told you Ruby came to visit me when you first disappeared?" she said.

"You mentioned," Sam said.

"Did I ever tell you what happened after?" she said.

"Not really," Sam said.

"She asked to be taken to school. Of all the requests to make with everything that was going on," she said, gaining better control of her breathing and once again stepping towards Sam. "She did it because that's what she thought you would want. All the other stuff is arbitrary for her. The simple fact of the matter is she loves you and wants you to be her Mum again," she said. Sam fell silent, Lena flinched when she started moving towards a nearby chair. She could not help it but even so, regretted the impact it had on Sam's mood. Sam pulled it up and rubbed her forehead.

"Even if you don't mean to be, you're still scared of what I might do," Sam said.

"I saw Reign at her worst, but that wasn't you," Lena said.

"And what if she comes back? What if I'm with Ruby and I switch," she said.

"It won't happen, we've taken every precaution…" Lena said.

"We're talking about my daughter here, Lena," she said. Lena wanted to freeze or reel away at the outburst. Instead she closed her eyes, the words "you can breathe" cycled through her head.

"That day, when I faced Reign. I was able to make her stop, if only for a moment. A mere mortal like myself was able to stop a World Killer in her tracks with one word. "Ruby."" Lena's heart was racing and her whole body felt like it was shaking. She recomposed herself, pushing through the memory for the sake of Sam and Ruby. "Your connection to her was so strong that it cut through all the madness and pain. I say with no doubt in my mind that all the worries you have will pale in comparison to being with Ruby again." Sam dropped her hand and looked passed her. Staring off at nothing in particular.

"I need some time," Sam said.

"I can wait, but I don't think Ruby wants to, and deep down neither do you," she said. Sam sat there in thought, it seemed like her words had got through to her.

"When you're ready, I'll be there," Lena said, turning to leave. She heard the words "thank you" come from Sam as she left, she turned back with a slight nod, but she wanted to get out. She told herself more words might cast doubt, but really she just wanted to keep a semblance of control.

When she reached the end of the crevice and was surrounded once more by the shining walls of the Fortress, she bent down hands on her thighs and exhaled loudly. Superman was there waiting for her.

"I'm sorry you had to go through it, but she needed to hear that from you," he said.

"It was my choice, no need to be sorry," she said. It was still difficult for her logical mind to deal with such irrational fear. She wished it was just a matter of getting over it and moving on, but she knew it was not that simple. It felt like knowing the science behind it all and that the danger Reign posed was long gone should serve as some sort of salve, but it never was.

"For what it's worth, if you ever doubt yourself, remember these moments. You push through everything for the good of others. It's how I know Kara's in safe hands," he said. Superman's intentions were always so pure and whilst it was uplifting, part of her longed for a bit of levity. Lena steadied herself, her breathing returned to normal and her body was still. Despite its glory, being inside the fortress instilled that effect of creeping darkness that Reign had on her. Though for this moment, it seemed to have brightened, if only a little.


	5. Desk

Lena looked around, appreciating the layout of the room. It was an ample distraction to admire the gleaming office. The office's style was similar to the time before it took a beating, it was a spacious area with white furniture and luxurious carpeting. She often kicked off her shoes just to appreciate the soft touch on her feet. It was a perk of being forced to refurbish after it had a brief stint as a fighting ring for various powered beings. Supergirl had crashed through the walls to get at Reign, and before that, Prometheus had wrecked most of the room in his own fight with Reign. He had used her old desk as an improvised weapon. She had spent a week with a dinky replacement, it had been a sad looking thing. The days of that replacement desk were dark times indeed, Lena had impatiently cursed the thing numerous times before the new one she commissioned came in. She tapped away at it, the novelty had yet to wear off. Having not replaced some of the more worthless shelves she had more space to work with, which was the perfect excuse for an even bigger desk. To her left was a touchscreen built into the desk itself, at the press of a button it could retract underneath. To her right, a large monitor with a fully flexible base. She wandered why it took an angry armoured man breaking everything for her to think of such a glorious work set-up.

At this point, she had set up L-Corp to basically run itself. She kept oversight and her new displays made it even easier to keep track of it all. After smoothing over the hits on her affiliates from Prometheus, she was now in a position where she could sit around and do nothing all day whilst profits still steadily increased. It gave her the time to look after Sam, Ruby and Kara, as well as sneaking in trips to the Cheshire. She almost resented how comparatively little she had to do these days. The challenge of L-Corp had disappeared, a victim of her own success. Part of the reason she had bought CatCo was for the new experience of running a media empire. This was a decision she had come to regret, even the gloriousness of the monitor did not alleviate how dull the content of the screen was. Jimmy Olsen was running the CatCo side of things and had insisted she have some form of press release on the complications of the acquisition. She had been deflecting it long enough, happy to let baseless speculation float around. It did nothing to tarnish L-Corp's image and added no substantial fuel to the ridiculous feud narrative. She finally accepted it when Jimmy informed her of CatCo's board member's growing insecurities. Keeping nervous board members happy was nothing new, she had quickly earned the confidence of Lex's old associates and the other high-ups in the company. Now she just had to do it again, the only real hardship she faced was just how dull it was. Dealing with the obstacles and colossal ego of Cat Grant were not the challenges she had in mind when she bought the company.

She forced herself to read through the statement again. The draft CatCo sent her had been so dire that she set the ultimatum that either she could write it herself or would not do it at all. She had changed the meaningless business buzzwords and passive aggressive snipes at Cat Grant into something far more eloquent and neutral. Jimmy had not told her who the author of the original draft was. He was probably protecting whichever dim-witted member wrote it from her judgement. Scrolling down the screen and reading those familiar words kept drawing her eyes to the minimised tab of Dr. Tammy Dyer's designs. The incredible work in artificial limbs was far more interesting than wording a statement to be as boring and free of controversy as possible. She got about halfway through before giving in and taking a look. Dr. Dyer's standard work was already impressive, Alex Danvers' artificial arms were a testament to that. But even they paled in comparison to the current design she had pulled up. Whatever mad inspiration drove Dr. Dyer to create an arm with massively increased strength and extreme durability was a worry Lena glossed over. If applied to a regular human this arm's power would be dangerous, the rest of the body would be unable to cope with its power and shatter. Putting it on a Kryptonian negated this problem entirely. With a few tweaks and some help from Dr. Dyer integrating the arm's neurological compatibility with Kryptonian physiology, it was a perfect replacement for Sam. For the sake of privacy Lena had told the doctor it was all theoretical. It was likely she suspected something, but Dr. Dyer was not the type to ask questions if it meant she could move forward with her work. When the time came Lena would be applying the procedure to Sam. It was mostly an automated process, but it did not stop her mulling over the notes and taking in all the blueprints. She fully understood how it all worked having studied it all intently numerous times, but it was a good excuse to avoid the boredom of the unnecessary statement.

She hovered back over the statement's tab, waiting for some sort of interruption. Her wishful thinking went unanswered. The phone was rudely silent and her assistant had nothing to bring up. She reluctantly opened the file back up and forced her way through it. An hour into this mind-numbing task a notification popped up on her screen, one of the pressure plates on her balcony had been triggered. Monarch once asked her why she did not just face her desk towards the window, he clearly lacked the eye for interior design that she did. Lena swung round in her chair, a fiery-looking Supergirl stood there. Lena pulled herself out of the leather chair, it took a bit of effort as she had sunk further and further down into it over the past hour. It squeaked and rolled back, bouncing lightly off the desk as she pushed off. She admired Kara's uniform as she approached. Public opinion was divided but Lena was firmly in the Red Lantern camp when it came to her preferred outfit design. The sleek red and black exuded a commanding presence and whilst she would never admit it to her, she thought the cape always looked a bit tacky and was glad it was gone. Lena's shoeless feet pressed against the rough ground as she went from her soft carpet to the concrete balcony.

Supergirl's breathing was heavy and her fists were clenched. Lena placed her hands on her shoulders.

"Look at me," Lena said, trying to catch her gaze. Supergirl was looking to the ground, her heavy breathing causing the crest on her chest to slowly rise and fall. The S had merged with the Red Lantern symbol, symmetrical jagged lines lined up either side of the famous logo. Lena snapped her fingers at her.

"Supergirl?" Still no response. Lena reached for her chin, there was no resistance as she pushed Supergirl's face up to make eye contact with her.

"Kara," she said. Kara blinked quickly for a few seconds.

"Lena. Sorry." she said, becoming more aware of where she was.

"No need to be sorry," Lena looked strolled to the side. "I've not seen you that out of it for about a week. Anything I should know about?"

"A particularly violent gang in the DRC tried to put up a fight, the ring made itself known," Kara said.

"When was the last time you took a break?" Lena said, leaning on the railing. Now Kara zipped around the entire world instead of just one city she spent a lot more time as Supergirl and in turn, a lot more time using the ring.

"I was at that bar with you…" she said.

"I mean a real break, an odd hour here or there won't cut it," Lena said.

"I can't stand by whilst there's people out there who need justice," Kara said.

"You aren't alone, let others pick up the work for you. Clark and J'onn may not be as powerful but they can still make a big difference" she said. Kara seemed hesitant. "I'll always be here for you, and I'll do everything in my power to get you through this. But if you're out there 24/7 the ring will keep chipping away at you." Kara was silent, it was nothing she had not heard before. Keeping Kara away from the fight was hard, it went against her need to help everyone. The look Kara would have in her eyes when she was forced to step back was the hardest part to deal with. Lena still pushed through, knowing it was for Kara's own good. After a long pause Kara spoke up.

"I'll let Clark know I'll be taking it easy for a few days," she said, the reluctance in her voice was not just about having to take a break.

"How are things with him?" Lena asked. She noticed a slight glimmer from the ring as Kara joined her in looking over the balcony, a light breeze brushed at Kara's hair as she looked over the busy city with her.

"I don't really know, he's making an effort but I can tell he's still struggling to deal with what I did to the Daxamites. He's at least at the point where he accepts the decision I made, even if he totally disagreed with it. I was responsible for so much death… I don't think it's something he can just get over," she said. Lena shuffled closer to Kara, still admiring the view.

"And what does he make of the ring?" she said. Kara sighed.

"He saw me at my absolute worst and still accepts me. I cut off Sam's arm as much out of spite for him as it was for my own revenge. He understands what happened, his willingness to forgive and his belief that everyone has good in them has worked in my favour. But I can see the conflict it causes him. For him everything is black and white, you're either doing the right thing or the wrong thing. This place in-between I seem to have slipped into sits outside of how he sees the world… it makes him uncomfortable," Kara said.

"Well I know all he really wants is what's best for you. It's painful for him to see you go through all this," Lena said.

"I guess," Kara said, her expression was neutral. The cloudless sky was filled with plane trails, Kara stood up straight and looked ready to leave again. Her check-ins were usually brief, Lena never felt like she did much to calm her down but it seemed to work all the same.

"You can stay if you like, I'll be working but would welcome the distraction," Lena said.

"No, I'll leave you be," she said. Lena pushed off the railing and smiled at her. Kara returned a half-smile, still seeming distracted. Lena struggled to think of what to say, nothing profound or particularly comforting sprang to mind.

"See you soon," was all she could think of whilst Kara gently levitated. She gave her one last look before shooting off into the distance. The red glow lingered in the air for a few seconds, Lena kept looking at it long after it had faded. Her visits like this often felt too short, just as she would begin to warm up to her, she would leave. She figured the detached attitude kept the ring in check, not angry enough to lose control but doing what she could to stop it rejecting her. Though it never felt like it, helping Kara stay balanced was a victory.

Lena rubbed her arms, the railing she had leaned on left a slight mark on them. Her feet welcomed the padded carpet as she stepped back inside. She was startled by her phone rattled against her desk. There were three missed calls and a message reading "Answer your damn phone." It was all from Monarch. This sort of urgency was rare from him. She called him, grateful for another merciful distraction from the press packet. He picked up immediately.

"There's a workshop downtown called "The Forge." Meet me there," he said. It sounded like he was on the move.

"Since when do you start barking orders at me, I'm away from my phone for a few minutes and you start blowing it up," she said.

"This is supposed to be a concise conversation," he said.

"What do you need me for?" She said.

"I've got a contact that can help you, but he's a very busy man," he said.

"I'm working, can't you rearrange or just tell me what you find out?" she said.

"I feel like the conciseness is slipping further and further away," he said.

"Then answer me," she said.

"This is the guy I mentioned who knows all about the rings and Lanterns," he said. Lena's eyes widened.

"I'll be right there," she said, hanging up before he could get one last snide comment in. She hurriedly packed up her work station, the immense satisfaction she should have felt closing the press document was overshadowed by her rush out the office.


	6. Workshop

The Forge seemed like a particularly dramatic name for a place that primarily serviced cars. Although the reason she was headed there in the first place and knowing Monarch, there were probably all sorts of secrets under the surface. The reviews overall were decent, nothing sprang out as odd except for peculiar opening hours. It was a short trip and traffic started building up. Satisfied she knew where she was going from her phone's map, she got out to walk the rest of the way.

The area seemed relatively up-market. Either her own standards had dropped or this was one of Monarch's classier contacts. She had been tempted to wear glasses on the chance someone would recognise her, but the people weaving around and pushing past her made it clear no-one was interested. In her early days of L-Corp she threatened there would be dire consequences for paparazzi, she was joking of course but a perk of being a Luthor was very few wanted to take the risk. Some braver souls were asking about Cat Grant these days, but these people soon realised they would get more news about it from a brick wall.

She found the Forge easily enough. The distinct smell of engine grease wafted to her nostrils and she peered down the driveway. Sitting above it was a sign, spelling out the "The Forge" in tools like a scrap-work art-piece. There was not much to it, no side entrance or reception and the driveway doubled up as a corridor. Knowing time was a constraint, she did not bother looking around for Monarch and followed the short entrance. It branched out to two platforms lifts, both of which had cars atop them, underneath was a man with a clipboard. His blue overalls stood out in the barren space. Bare brick walls surrounded them with a blinded door and window at the back.

"Sorry, I'm all booked out for a fair while. Leave your name and contact details on the sheet and I'll get back to you when I can," he said, the man pointed to the sheet without turning around or looking away from the cars. It was almost full and a miserable looking pen dangled beside it, if she were actually here for service she would be out of luck.

"That's not what I'm here for," she said. The man's head turned sharply. His back was still toward her but she caught his eye, a pang of familiarity hit her. He chucked the clipboard onto a nearby workbench, it spun in the air like frisbee and clattered when it landed. He was tall man who's features would be average if not for the intense look he gave her.

"Smith called you here?" he said.

"If you mean the know-it-all in a hoodie with a smug grin that makes you want to smack him, then yes," she said. She was sure Monarch did not mention any of his different names for his own bizarre amusement rather than any form of secrecy.

"That's the one." He pulled a rag from his back pocket and started wiping his hands.

"I'd shake your hand, ma'am, but you wouldn't want to get your hands dirty," he had a hostile tone.

"It's no problem," she said, stepping forward. She put out her hand and stared right into his eyes. The intense scowl only broke for a moment as he looked down at her offering. He took it, shaking slowly and firmly. After pulling away, she rubbed her hands, doing what she could to disperse the grease without ruining her clothes.

"What do I call you?" she said. He walked over to the workbench and reached into a drawer. He tossed her clean rag.

"Fletcher. Now if you don't mind, I need a minute," he said, striding toward the door at the back. It slammed, shaking the blinds. After wiping her hands, Lena did what she could to see through them, getting right up to the glass and squinting. As she searched for gaps or a light-source inside to give anything away, the blinds suddenly opened. She stepped back, holding her heart in shock. It was Monarch, holding onto the cord with one hand and giving her a friendly wave with the other. She exaggerated a bemused look at him. Fletcher stepped over, somehow his grimace was even more intense. He yanked the cord and the blinds violently swished shut. The conversation inside was too muffled to make out. Fletcher already has some sort of issue with her, if he found her eavesdropping it would only make things worse. She trusted Monarch, or this case, Smith, to make it work. Not content to be idle though, she moseyed over to the workbench to see if there were any clues to her situation. There were the usual bits and bobs that one would expect on a mechanic's desk. Various tools, a clamp and sprays were neatly lined up. They did little to catch her interest, however a couple of invoices and parts orders were strewn across it. She checked the blinds were still closed before taking a closer look. The services were on the pricier end and there were some serous pieces of kit on the list for somewhat average looking cars. The messy signature at the bottom of them was hard to make out. "Fletcher" sprang out in the mess of lines, but the first initials just seemed to be a series of squiggles. She heard the door handle press down and quickly backed off from the bench. There was distinct pause and one last muffled sentence before the door creaked open. Smith stepped out with Fletcher close behind, his scowl still going strong.

"So… the pleasantries. Mark, this is Lena, Lena this is Mark," Smith said.

"Fletcher." He spat out.

"Personally I think The Artist Formerly Known as Prometheus has more flare," Smith said. Lena double took as Fletcher groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"We just said we weren't going to tell her," Fletcher said.

"No, you said you weren't gonna tell her and I said that's your prerogative," Smith said. The familiar eye, strange feeling of familiarity and the hostility immediately made sense.

"This is the man that tried to kidnap me and destroy my business," she said.

"You think I'd have agreed if he told me you were his contact?" Fletcher said.

"Why'd you think I didn't tell you?" Smith said, calm as ever. "Besides I never said my contact wasn't Lena Luthor."

"Enough pedantics, what was the point of that?" Fletcher said. Lena was certainly annoyed but knowing Smith's ways softened the blow and it was amusing seeing someone else deal with it for the first time.

"Oh, come off it. She would obviously have found out, then there'd be a big "how can I trust anything you've said" brouhaha. Then someone would have to give a dramatic speech or sad story just to get back to square one, and personally I'd rather not waste that on this," he said. This was met with silence as both Lena and Fletcher stared each other down. Lena refused to break first and could feel the contempt drilling into her from those grey eyes of his. Attention to each other was ripped away as a wrench clanged to the floor, the sound bounced around the room.

"We done with our petty squabble?" Smith said. Hanging up the wrench he had knocked down.

"He's dangerous," Lena said.

"She's corrupt," Fletcher said. Smith rolled his eyes.

"For goodness sake. He's got information for you and she's got the ear of Supergirl, you both have something each other needs. We're short on time here so let's have that pragmatism you're both so fond of rule the day. You don't even have to stop hating each other when all is said and done," he said. Lena's eyes darted from Smith to Fletcher.

"What do you need Supergirl for?" She asked, suspicious of his intentions. He seemed reluctant to speak at first.

"She's messing with very dangerous power," he said.

"It's not a burden she takes lightly," she said.

"It's not her commitment I'm questioning," he said.

"See, now we're getting along," Smith cut in.

"Your turn to talk is over." Lena said, then turned back to Fletcher as Smith backed away. "What are you questioning then?"

"Her methods haven't changed much, but I want to know if she's struggling with self-control," he said.

"She knows when to pull back and calm down," she said.

"But the drive to do harm is there," he said.

"I won't let her go too far if that's what you're worried about," she said.

"That's not something you can promise," he said.

"Then help me understand. Tell me everything you know about the ring. All we know is that anger is the source of its power," she said. Fletcher looked up at a clock on the wall, he briefly stopped to think. His shoulders dropped as the tension in his body loosened.

"Rage fuels that ring's power, but that's not what drives it. Controlling her anger is one thing, but vengeance is its goal. The more people someone has wronged the more it'll call for their blood and as her rage builds it'll be harder to push away. Even worse, if something becomes personal and it's her own revenge she seeks… well, it won't be pretty." Sam's injuries were a testament to that, despite her doubts it was hard to deny Fletcher's statements.

"She's mostly been able to keep a lid on it, when she feels like she begins to slip. She stops," she said. Lena would always defend Kara, but in the back of her mind she was worried. That drive for justice she possessed had grown over the past few weeks. Whilst it could be a replacement for the ring's need for revenge, there was a scary possibility that she was starting to see those two as the same thing.

"Well that's another concern I have. That level of control is almost unheard of," he said.

"She's the strongest person I know," she said.

"This technology is ancient and powerful. A creature named Atrocitus created the Red Lantern corps after the Guardians of the Universe were the cause of an accident that killed his entire race. We're talking about a build-up of rage and lust for revenge in its purest form. It's not something you can simply deny through strength of character," he said.

"Don't underestimate her," Lena said.

"She may be in control now, but her relationship to that ring is close. Her own symbol intertwined with the corps' and her ability to make constructs will not go unnoticed by the other Red Lanterns. The fact she has her sanity at all means at least some of them have seen her," he said.

"Er… I think you missed a step there, Promster," Smith chimed in. He had planted himself on a nearby stool and was noting everything down. Fletcher scoffed impatiently and turned to him.

"When you first accept the ring there's nothing but uncontrolled, animalistic rage. It's not until you enter the blood pools of Ysmault, the Red Lantern home-world, that you gain any semblance of self-control back," He said. "…and it's Fletcher."

"And constructs?" Smith asked.

"There's no records of any Red Lantern ever able to make them, until Supergirl," he said.

"Cool, I'm back up to speed," Smith said with his head down, making more notes.

"Well maybe Supergirl has found a way to make it work for her," she said. Fletcher shook his head.

"Rage sits on the end of the emotional spectrum, it shouldn't be something you simply make work for you," he said.

"So what does all this mean? Supergirl doesn't seem to follow any of these rules you're talking about," Lena said. Fletcher thought for a moment and sighed.

"I don't know, it's something we need to find out, and fast. If this continues it won't just be Supergirl who's at risk," he said.

"So there's a "we" now," Lena said. Fletcher ignored her.

"Whatever it is you're doing to keep her in check, keep at it. If she loses control it's bad news for all of us. More importantly, find out more about what drives her and how she interacts with that ring in detail. If we can eliminate these unknowns everyone will be safer," he said. Lena nodded slowly, it was a lot to take in. As Fletcher looked up to the clock on the wall again, his face dropped.

"Anything else we should know?" Smith asked.

"Most definitely, but I've already stayed here longer than I should," he said.

"I have more questions," Lena said. She felt like she was only scratching the surface.

"We can wait, he can't," Smith said, jumping off his stool.

"You don't speak for me," Lena said.

"I really do need you to go," he sounded more hurried than contemptuous.

"I'll be back," she said, letting Smith drag her towards the exit.

"See, you're practically best friends now. Bye Prommy," he said.

"Fletcher," he said through gritted teeth. He watched them go, then disappeared into his office. Smith lead her across the road and stopped around a small corner, peaking back at The Forge.

"Another fast and confusing interrogation," she said.

"I feel like that was more of a chat," he said. Lena wanted to stay annoyed, but Monarch did not have to help her with Kara's issues at all. He was doing her a favour and the fast and loose nature was something she had simply come to expect from her strange friend.

"Firstly, he works at a place called The Forge and you call yourself Smith? That's just lazy. Secondly, you could have told me your contact was Prometheus." He was about to speak but Lena cut him off.

"And if the next words out of your mouth are "I never said it wasn't Prometheus." I'm going to slap you in the face," she said. Monarch's eyes shifted to the side, his mouth was open as he held a finger out. He was blatantly rethinking his sentence.

"Sometimes, the names choose themselves," he said, switching to a sheepish look. "As for the Prometheus thing… it didn't seem relevant?"

"Didn't. Seem. Relevant." Lena sounded out the words, cocking her head and staring daggers at him.

"Look, I didn't wanna say anything until I was sure he could help. Just so happened I didn't find out with enough time to ease you into it," he said.

"You could have told me on the phone," she said.

"Would you have come?" He asked, his nervousness immediately changed to a look of curiosity. Lena paused.

"Probably," she said.

"Colour me convinced," he said, taking another peak around the corner. It earned him some odd looks from passers-by.

"How does he even know so damn much about this anyway?" she said.

"You'll know soon enough," he said.

"Well I…" she started.

"Wait. Shut up," he said.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"Look look look," he said. Exhausted by his refusal to slow the pace, she gave up and peaked around with him.

Fletcher had changed clothes remarkably quickly and was now shutting up shop. It was hard to believe such an unassuming-looking man had done so much damage to her assets in the past. He pulled down the garage door with one hand.

"Come oooon," Smith muttered to himself. Lena kept watching, unsure what to look for. The garage door got stuck a quarter of the way down. After yanking at it a few times to no success, he looked around. They both instinctively whipped back behind the corner as he turned to their direction. A few seconds later they peaked out again. Fletcher pulled his other hand out of his pocket to bring the door down with a thud.

"There. Right hand," Monarch said, pointing. Lena got a glimpse of a large ring before Fletcher's hands quickly returned to his pockets after locking up and walking off. Lena froze in confusion.

"Was that… green?"


	7. Downtown

"Yep," Monarch said.

"Him?" Lena said.

"Still yep," he said.

"How is he a Green Lantern?" She said.

"It makes sense if you think about it," he said.

"That's not funny," she said. Monarch looked around, weary of people passing in the street. He once told her out in the open the wrong people would be listening if you were not moving. As if walking made all the difference, following his logic could be tricky at times.

"Going back to your office?" he asked.

"Sure," she said. Whilst it was partially to indulge Monarch's theory, she was mainly saying whatever she needed to get on with the conversation. He went at a sauntering pace down the city streets, the traffic had died down so cars and pedestrians alike were easily overtaking him. He had this way of moving that had such an ease to it, the heavy footfalls, engine revs and busyness of his surroundings slid off him like he was meditating alone. That demeanour of moving slow but thinking fast always stuck with him.

"I wasn't trying to be funny," he said.

"I can't tell if you're still winding me up or not," she said.

"Well look at what he's done…" he started.

"Arson and attempted kidnapping?" Lena cut him off. He raised an eyebrow at her, she let him carry on.

"He saw something he thought was wrong and did something about it despite having no personal stakes. He also more than went out of his way to make sure no-one got hurt in the process. Hell, he jumped into the fray with a Kryptonian to save your arse even though you're the one he hated most," he said. Lena grunted.

"He's still hardly heroic, he was willing to do that bad stuff in the first place," she said.

"Yeah but I don't think heroism is what the green rings look for, if anything the fact he's less than a paragon of virtue says more to me. The ability to listen someone else and walk away from what you worked so hard for because you realise you were wrong. Sounds like a willpower home run to me," he said.

Lena grunted again.

"Well Supergirl let him walk away because she was convinced he was a good man with poor priorities, and more importantly, Lena Luthor's approval isn't a requirement for a Green Lantern," he said.

"You're seriously not surprised Prometheus is a Green Lantern?" She said. His points were valid and she had forgotten that it was Kara's judgement of his character that had him roaming free, but it was still difficult to believe.

"Oh don't get me wrong, I only found out about the Green Lantern thing a few days ago and laughed about it for five minutes straight," he said. Lena slowed to a stop as his words echoed in her mind. Her brow furrowed and her puzzled look changed to a glare.

"Tell me, when you say the Green Lantern thing was a few days ago, does that mean you were already talking with Prometheus for a long time beforehand?" She said. Monarch's lack of an immediate answer told her what she needed to know. She guided him out of the crowd's way and continued to glare at him with hands on hips.

"What constitutes a long time?" He said, his eyes shifted, knowing he had been rumbled.

"How long after he ditched the armour before you found him?" She asked, knowing pretty much exactly how it would have gone down, with Monarch casually approaching Fletcher and dropping the fact he knew he was Prometheus on him like it was nothing. Her foot tapped impatiently, she was only being partially seriousness with the angry act. He would know this too, but it helped get the point across. Monarch's tongue rolled around his mouth before he gave in.

"Two days," he said, his face switched to a pained expression. Even after all their time together, speaking in straight truths could bother him.

"Of course it was," she said, refusing to be surprised.

"Shall we?" Monarch said, beckoning them to get moving again. She obliged.

"Go on, now the cat's out of the bag I'm sure you're eager to tell me how you found him so easily," she said.

"You're so good to me," he said with a skip in his step. For a man so reluctant to speak plainly he was always so happy when he got to explain himself. There were numerous times he had listened to her ramble on about Kara or L-Corp so she liked to throw things his way in return. She usually learned a thing or two from his methods anyway.

"Being honest, two days wasn't that quick considering how much I had on him. Someone who can operate and repair armour that advanced, get people to follow his cause and organise them so well is already a rarity. Add the fact I had a first name and knew his face, the job practically did itself," he said.

"So which way did you find him?" She said.

"Supergirl actually did me a big favour on that one, albeit unintentionally," he said.

"I'm intrigued," she said.

"Apparently when she's all raged up or whatever, that ring runs hot. In their scuffle she accidently branded that Red Lantern symbol on his face. I correctly assumed his first step would be finding someone… unofficial... who could heal the mark, the last thing someone trying to lay low wants is something so identifiable," he said.

"Let me guess, the unofficial people that operate what is probably illegal alien healing tech, don't exactly adhere to doctor-patient confidentiality," she said.

"Your grasp of the city's seedy underbelly gets better every day, I'm so proud," he said. She raised an eyebrow, knowing that he was deliberately being patronising but making it clear to him it went unappreciated.

They stopped at a crossing, she leaned round a taller stranger in front of her to see the red light. As they waited she started to zone out. She winced when picturing the ring burning into Prometheus' face, she could hardly imagine the pain of a heat that searing. Becoming a Green Lantern was probably the last thing on his mind at the time, if he even knew what one was. Kara seemed to have made a habit of changing people for the better, even with the red ring's negative influence. Her expression dropped as she considered a new train of thought.

"What are you waiting for," Monarch said, confused as she stood in place with stationary cars and the green signal glowing at them to walk. She crossed quickly to make up for being lost in her thoughts.

"All of this emotional spectrum talk and the fight for the control of the mind. You think Supergirl's ring could affect others as well?" She said.

"What are you getting at?" Monarch said.

"Well Fletcher takes a ring to the face and next thing you know he's a Green Lantern. Could there be a correlation?" She said. Monarch scrunched his mouth to the side.

"I dunno, Prom never seemed particularly conflicted and that willpower of his was always there. Even you spotted he wasn't your average nutter. That and from what we know, Green and Red Lanterns operate totally separately," he said. They turned a corner, the L-Corp tower in all its glory popped into view. Even so far off she liked to think it dominated the skyline.

"What about Sam and Reign? Two minds in the same body, one visit from Red Lantern Supergirl later and Reign totally vanished from her head," she said. Monarch turned to her, his presence still somehow so free from the surrounding cacophony.

"You know, that one's not a bad theory…" he said, starting to contemplate it himself. "Looks like you have more homework to do. You could ask the Super what went down that night."

"Oh that won't be fun, she's particularly sensitive about her dealings with Reign," she said.

"Well, you know what you're doing. Your relationship with her comes first but if that ring of hers can counter the World Killers so directly it's probably the most valuable thing on the planet," he said.

"Yeah well, it's just a theory," she said, happy that it appeared she knew what she was doing when it came to Kara.

"A damn important one, you have to pursue it," he said with a surprising amount of intensity.

"Alright, don't get too excited," she said. Monarch caught himself, seemingly embarrassed to have strayed from his laid-back nature.

"Sorry, I just want this World Killer problem to be dealt with," he said. He had shaved since they last met, but the fatigue was still distinctive on his face. His sporadic tendencies and relentless casual tone made him hard to read, though it was starting to seem like it was shifting to a front rather than his natural behaviour.

"The cult starting to get to you?" Lena asked. She was so used to telling Kara to give it a rest that it barely occurred to her that Monarch could also be running himself ragged.

"In a way, their blind worship of something they know so little about…" He stopped. "You don't need to worry about me. In fact whilst we're on this topic I have more information for you."

She was concerned how unsubtly he had steered the conversation away from himself. For now she would let it slide, especially as relaying new information was undoubtedly something he loved.

"I finally got in on, for want of a better word, a sermon of the cult. It was mostly boring stuff about how great Krypton is, but then some spiel about the judgement of Krypton descending kicked in," he said, sneering as he spoke.

"Judgement? Did they mean the World Killers?" She said.

"One to drain the land, one to cleanse the land, one to shape the land and one to rule it," he said in an exaggerated voice, presumably impersonating the cult leader. The wording was specific, it lined up that the four to pass Krypton's judgement were the World Killers.

"Reign sought to dominate and kill basically anyone who would stand in the way of her world order. Sounds like ruling the land to me," she said.

"Leaving drain, cleanse and shape as the unknowns. It isn't much to go on, but if some trends start cropping up in Supergirl's shenanigans that could match one of those then we're in business," he said. Lena nodded, an idea cropped into her head she knew he would not like.

"Supergirl can't exactly fully concentrate these days, especially if all she's doing is chasing revenge around for people. I've already got a thousand things to keep an eye on. The best people to go to are probably the D.E.O." She said. Predictably, Monarch scoffed at the mention of them.

"The more information those clumsy dolts have the higher chance they'll screw something up," he said.

"I'm just saying, Supergirl and the press that follows her won't be focused enough to put together the data you'll need. If it's trends in crime or disasters that could match those words you're after, that's exactly what the D.E.O. can look for," she said, Monarch grimaced. She carried on, determined to find a way to let him ease his own workload.

"You're good at what you do, but they have a lot of resources that you don't," she said. Monarch stopped and looked up at the sky. He pulled a pencil from his pocket and started fiddling with it. He was oblivious to the world, Lena moved to the side. He remained in place, letting the current of people work around him. After some time of fidgeting and sighing he side-stepped perfectly through a gap in the crowd to join her.

"I can't believe I'm actually considering this," he said.

"If you don't I'll set Kara on it, you need help from somewhere," she said.

"I don't need help and you need to keep her as far away from this as possible," he said.

"Don't give me that. You're exhausted and frustrated. I know you'll never slow down so you need this to cut yourself some slack," she said. Monarch's eyes narrowed at her.

"Fine, as long as it means Kara stays away I'll let some rumours float around for the D.E.O. to pick up on," he said. Despite his begrudging tone, Lena was pleased with herself. Looking after Kara was already difficult at times, heading this off and giving Monarch ways to look after himself felt important. In a strange role-reversal, she felt the need to throw in a line to ease the tension as Monarch's expression hardened.

"Besides, if you burn yourself out then I'll just keep beating you at the pool table," she said. A laboured grin appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"If we didn't have things to do I'd insist on righting that cocky attitude in the Cheshire right now," he said.

"Soon," she said, looking up to the ever-approaching L-Corp building. "But you have rumours to start and I have rumours to stop," she said.

"Cat Grant on the brain?" He asked. She shot him a look, it was a natural reaction drilled into her not to say anything.

"Message received," he said. She watched him disappear down a side-street.

"Good luck," she said under her breath, before adopting that sauntering pace toward the distant tower.


	8. Press

The flurry of bored faces would have been a delight if Lena was not nearly falling asleep herself. The speech she wrote was relatively short but she had succeeded a little too well in making it bland and uninteresting. She was stood in a small room in the CatCo building, it was already ridiculous to her that there was a room dedicated to press conferences let alone the fact she was standing behind a lectern. If she had anything of actual importance to announce it certainly would not be in some weird imitation of the presidential press briefing room.

She tapped at the lectern and looked over her audience. Every chair was filled and a crowd had formed at the back. They were all journalists selected specifically by CatCo's board. Whilst she saw it as a weak move she at least did not have to face a grilling from the likes of Lois Lane, although if she were in the room it would at least be a more interesting use of her time. The frantic scratching of pens had slowed down over the course of the speech. One by one they realised she had no intention of giving them anything noteworthy. The smaller scale did have its advantages, it reduced the risk of being interrupted by shootings of explosions that people made a habit of in her more open appearances. It also meant any idiot with a twitter account would not be there to twist her words, though it looked to her like some of the people invited to this room were no better than said idiots.

She wanted to rest her head on the lectern when she stopped talking. Jimmy Olsen, who was thrown in charge of this event stepped in from the side.

"Miss Luthor will now field your questions," he said. Lena's heart sank as hands shot up and the rabble leaned forward. It occurred to her making the speech longer might have made people want to leave straight away, her ability to get to the point had betrayed her. She lazily pointed at someone in the front row, mostly ignoring the fight for attention. The first question was neither challenging or controversial and the following questions were of the same nature. She was answering on autopilot, thinking of the more useful things she could be doing. The responses she gave had just enough information to address the main point but were measured enough to keep the room from erupting. Before throwing her finger out to the next eager face she spotted someone sidle into the room. In front of so many, Lena knew not to give anything away but was intrigued when Kara half-heartedly joined the scrum for attention. A small shake from Kara's head when they made eye contact made it clear she was just doing it to blend in. She went back to answering more questions, it required no thought. Handling herself in this environment was so simple that her idling brain could not help but think of Kara now she had managed to get herself here. Talking to her about the ring and Reign would be a struggle, her preferred tactic of just going for the jugular could be disastrous. Scenarios and conversations raced through her head as she kept on fielding the questions, barely even listening to her own words as she tried and failed to come up with any way to gauge these subjects in any detail from Kara without risking what they had.

The whole charade was reminiscent of the time Lex was arrested and she came out with several hundred ways to paraphrase the fact she was not her brother. Even the way she stood at the lectern was part of the show, looking professional whilst also keeping a stance that conveyed how this was a total waste of time for all involved. She picked another reporter and the inevitable happened.

"Rumours are circulating the delays in your acquisition are solely due to Cat Grant's interference, how would you address these claims?" If anything, it surprised her that it took this long for her to be mentioned. She stole a glance at a stoic and uninterested Kara before answering, she had been close to Cat, and Lena was still slightly weary of how Kara felt about the acquisition.

"Miss Grant's passion for her former company shines through when she speaks, that passion should not be the basis of any assumed actions on her part," she said. The rumours were technically baseless, no real evidence coming through helped her case, but they were completely true. If she had any interest in drumming up trouble for Cat Grant it would take very little effort. This opened the floodgates on related questions, her heart sank as it would probably double the length of the boring question time.

Kara's semi-permanent scowl easily cut through the crowd. She had never mentioned Cat Grant or Mon-El in detail after getting the ring. As ever, it was hard to tell if this was the ring consuming her thoughts or if Kara closed off that side of herself. Until Kara came along, Lena had been convinced that closing off feelings and appearing cold was a source of strength. Whilst that attitude still had some use, such as standing at a lectern surrounded by reporters, she no longer saw that as her true self or something to aspire to. It was strange to her that their roles seemed to have shifted, now she had to try and teach Kara the same lessons. The added factors of the ring and needing information on Reign complicated things to no end.

One by one, the questions fell by the wayside. Any enthusiasm from the crowded room had died down and Jimmy took his cue.

"Miss Luthor will answer one more question," he said. This instilled a bit more energy as the scramble for attention stirred up. It was hard to imagine something that had not already been asked five times. She picked someone out, once more barely registering whatever media outlet they came from. He was a young man who stuttered slightly as he spoke.

"Miss Luthor, you've inferred from your speech and answers today that there is truly nothing out of the ordinary about this acquisition. If there's nothing wrong then why hold a briefing like this at all, is it fair to say this is damage control?" He said. It was a gutsy question from someone who seemed so nervous. Without skipping a beat, she answered.

"As you're all very aware, there's a lot of misinformation and wild speculation about this whole process. Today I sought to clarify the reality that everything is above board and being professionally handled," she said. A few more notes were jotted, but the room seemed content. She stepped back, a few people tried barking more questions at her as she strode out, but it was hardly more enthused than usual. The doors were opened for her, Jimmy followed her out. The express elevator awaited and top floor would provide a respite from the media circus. Jimmy had big smile on his face when the doors closed.

"What's got you in a good mood?" she said as they jolted upward.

"With the way you handled that, the board might finally get off my back," he said.

"Yes well, that last question hit a little close to home. Just because I gave them nothing to talk about, doesn't mean there won't be talk," she said.

"Well as long as Cat doesn't kick up more of a stink we should be fine," he said. Lena was amused as his face dropped, the mere idea of it worried him so much.

"Let her rant, if she keeps at it she'll comes across as desperate," she said.

"You'd be wise to be a bit more scared of her," he said. Lena did not even bother responding, the notion of fearing Cat Grant was absurd.

"Now that's done, is there anything else you need from me?" She said.

"It should be okay, I'll be able to keep the board in check now and will keep pushing things through," he said.

"You sure? I can always take over the L-Corp side of things if that'd make life easier," she said, hoping he would refuse.

"No, you're a busy enough woman and that new C.F.O. of yours is a dream to work with," he said. She was pleased he had unwittingly obliged and it was good to hear her most recent major hire was working out so well.

"Are you implying I wouldn't be a dream to work with?" she said.

"No… well I…" Jimmy started, nervously looking up at the floor counter as if it could provide him with an escape.

"I was kidding, Jimmy," she said, messing with him was almost too easy at times.

The doors dinged open.

"You go ahead," she said. Looking over to the regular lift. "I imagine Kara showed up to see me."

"How is she doing these days? Whenever I try to contact her she doesn't answer or gets all distant on me," he said. Lena paused.

"She's been better," she said. Jimmy nodded slightly.

"If you ever need help, just ask," he said, reluctantly moving off to his office.

Lena ignored the busywork around her, folding her arms and her foot tapping away as the other lift was slowly making its way. Sure enough, Kara was amongst a small group of people funnelling out of it. Officially Kara still worked at CatCo so had free movement around the building. Lena had shifted her job to a "freelance consultancy position," it was a useful work-around for the fact Kara did no real work as she spent all her time being Supergirl or being forced to take a break.

"Hi Kara," she said with a smile. Kara mildly acknowledged her before walking straight through to Lena's office. Lena stood there bewildered for a moment before making her own way over. The door creaked gently as Lena pulled it shut. This office was far less impressive than her one at L-Corp, it was set up for her as a temporary space but as the weeks dragged on with no progress for CatCo, the dinky office remained. Apart from moving her favourite stapler here, she had little attachment to it.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Lena said, shutting the door behind her. Kara sat on the desk.

"Clark wanted me to pass on a message, apparently he doesn't have your phone number," he said.

"He's heroically protecting me from the onslaught of Lois with that particular move," she said. Kara seemed disinterested.

"He wants you to know Sam's ready to leave the fortress," she said. Lena stopped herself from reacting too much. Reign dismembered Alex and nearly killed her, now she was sitting here relaying the message to help that same woman.

"Tell him to bring her to my National City facility right away, they'll know the place," Lena said. She wanted to move on this quickly in case Sam changed her mind again, however the opportunity to talk about Reign had been dropped in her lap. She stopped for a moment, Kara rubbed her own cheek and glanced around the room. Lena wanted to leave it be, it was a tough call between her feelings and understanding how to deal with the World Killers. After brief deliberation she decided to go for it.

"Are you okay with me helping Sam like this? I mean I know you've said it before but…"

"My grudge was with Reign, not Sam," Kara cut in. Her monotone delivery contrasted with her apparent mood, Kara wrung her hands and glanced down to where the hidden ring was.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she said. Regretting her decision to ask about Reign.

Kara nodded silently. Lena had to get moving but leaving Kara alone whilst she was like this was a bad idea. Too much time in her own head could just wind up making things even worse, especially as she had tried to get her to confront her feelings on Reign and World Killers in such a rushed manner. Jimmy was just next door, but he did know the nuance of the situation and Kara would likely shut him down and leave. As she started gathering a few things an idea hit her, any logical thought process told her how incredibly stupid it was.

"Look, I have to go sort this out, but I want you to talk this out with someone," she said.

"Lena, seriously, I'll be okay," she said.

"Humour me," she said.

"Fine," Kara sighed.

"You know that underground alien bar with no name that you like?" she said.

"I've not been in a while," Kara said, her scowl replaced with a suspicious look.

"Meet Oddball there," she said. Kara's scowl immediately returning.

"You have got to be joking," she said. Lena expected this response and being honest with herself, she would do the same in Kara's position.

"Please, do this for me. I know you don't like him, but he might be able to help you if you give him a chance," she said. There was an instinct within her that was sure this could work out somehow despite all the reasoning she could think of against it.

"In what way, it's not like he knows to reassure me or calm me down," she said. Lena briefly debated telling her he had sussed her out.

"You can talk to him as Kara," she said. Kara shot a look of disbelief at her, if anything the idea was so ridiculous to her that it did not stir up any anger.

"Just give him a chance, he's done a lot for me and could do the same for you," Lena said. She did not want to be too forceful about the issue, if Kara ultimately made the decision to accept more help herself it would be a big step forward.

"I'll think about it," Kara said, she threw her a side glance. "How will he even know to meet me there?"

"Trust me, he gets about," Lena said. Lena looked back, she did not want to stall any more whilst Sam was on her way. "Look, I'll be free for you soon and if you don't want to do it that's fine. I only want to see you beat that thing and genuinely think he can help. If I'm wrong, then that's fine too and we can move on from there." Kara did not respond again, the disinterest on her face had all but vanished and it seemed her mind was racing. She was probably trying to put together whatever reasoning Lena had when there was little to be found.

"I'll talk to you soon, I promise," Lena said.

"I'll hold you to that," Kara said. Lena wanted to move in and hug her, but Kara looked too distracted. She rushed out the office, hoping Kara would not dwell there on her thoughts for too long. When she got to the lift and it started making its way down she whipped out her phone, Kara had looked to wrapped up to try any super-hearing. She scrolled down he contact list until Monarch popped up. He picked up quickly.

"Is this going to be a useful call?" He said.

"Possibly, I need you to go to an alien bar," she said.

"How very specific," he said.

"It doesn't have a name, it's an underground place. Off-shoot from the city centre…" she started.

"Dumpsters, poorly lit, terrible graffiti, insist on a ridiculous password? I know the place," he said.

"You don't need more information than that?" She said.

"All the other bars that fit the bill aren't dumb enough to go nameless," he said.

"Great, go there," she said.

"Is there a reason for this, I could be busy," he said.

"You can make things happen wherever you go," she said.

She strode out of the lift and weaved through the reception area, the lab she needed wasn't too far away.

"Was that meant to be a compliment?" he said.

"Who cares, get a move on," she said.

"That place is garbage and I'm still not hearing a reason to go there," he said.

"I need you to talk to Kara, so it's either there or I could recommend a nice fermentation place for you," she said.

"A what?" he said. She stopped herself from chuckling at the disgust in his voice at the mere mention of such a place.

"I can't spend time with her at the moment and she shouldn't be alone right now," she said.

"Aren't there people she actually likes who can babysit her?" he said.

"Probably, though you provide her someone to be annoyed at, which might be exactly what she needs. Besides, Reign's on her mind and we need to find out about the fight. She won't want to risk her real feelings on it with me, my job is to keep her reserved and happy," she said.

"And she already doesn't like me, so prodding at the whole emotional spectrum thing isn't a risk to you," he said.

"That's the idea," she said.

"But is a risk to me," he said.

"That's your problem, besides when has risk ever stopped you before?" She said. Monarch made a vague sound of agreement at her.

"So she knows I know about her extra-curricular activities?" He said.

"Nope," she said.

"So let me get this straight, you want me to immediately go over to a bar I hate, prod at the sensitive, emotional topics of a Red Lantern who already doesn't like me because you can't think of a way to do it yourself, all whilst not revealing and working around the fact I know who she really is," he said.

"Pretty much," she said.

"Right…" he said.

"Well you can tell her you figured it out if it'll help," she said.

"Where's the fun in that?" He said.

"So you'll do it?" She said.

"I get the feeling I don't have a choice," he said.

"You don't, I already told her you'll be there," she said. He groaned at her.

"Also, she might not turn up at all," she said.

"This is a flimsy plan, even by my standards," he said.

"If this doesn't end up helping both her and you, I'll concede that pool game you lost so embarrassingly to me," she said.

"I know you're trying to manipulate me with that one," he said.

"And it worked didn't it?" She said.

"One hundred percent, I'll make my way over now," he said, he hung up. If anyone could make this work, it was Monarch. Despite the many things that could go wrong with what she just set up, she could not help but be hopeful about it. It was in motion now so there was little reason to dwell on it. However, her mind did dwell on the daunting task to fix Sam Arias and let her back in to the real world.


	9. Recovery

She checked the machine for what felt like the hundredth time. How these people with super-speed always managed to take so long was beyond her. Everything was still in order, it was not like the last few seconds would have made any real difference to the tech. This inability to stay still for any significant amount of time was brought on by the combination of boredom and weary anticipation. She had no hesitation when it came to helping Sam, it was her own issues that had her fiddling with calibrations and looking over all the old scans. Coming face to face with Sam at full strength again could set her off in any number of ways and acting out whilst Sam was feeling so vulnerable could be detrimental to her significant progress. She could only hope her troubled mind would behave itself.

She stepped away from the machine, fidgeting with her hands and taking deep breaths. She tried to find comfort in the lab, this particular one was an underground complex for her personal projects. Few people knew it existed and only she had full control of who could enter. The lack of any natural light seldom bothered her as the bright bulbs and reflective panelling gave the room a shine that she liked to work in. Whilst it had grown cluttered on the various worktops and surfaces, Lena had been meticulous in keeping everything sterile. It was standard practice, but her recent work with Kryptonite had made her paranoid that even the slightest speck could be catastrophic. Superman had provided some Kryptonite for her in the hope it could produce something to combat the World Killers and give Kara a chance to be free of the ring. It was a short-lived idea, for whatever reason Sam's biology was radically different to the average Kryptonian. Anything Lena produced would be no more effective than regular weapons. The only additional feature they would have would be a menacing, but ultimately pointless, green tint. Whilst it was upsetting that it did not provide an easy answer to the World Killers, Lena was glad not to be experimenting with it. The discovery of Kryptonite's relative uselessness had been a stark relief. She had done it before, but developing weapons never sat right with her.

She considered packing up the various beakers and equipment that was lying around. There was even a mug here or there, all sat clean and unused. The intention to get a drink for herself always got interrupted by her work, sometimes she would work for hours on end without realising she was hungry until the lab coat came off. It was common occurrences like this that destroyed any effort she would have had to put equipment away after she cleaned it. There was a time she considered bringing Kara in as a lab assistant. Giving her something to do in the breaks she felt forced to take and an excuse for Kara to spend less time alone would have been ideal. Kara had not seemed to have minded about the Kryptonite but Lena's recent work primarily involving Sam was too much of a risk. She doubted Kara would completely lose control, but Lena feared for the lives of her innocent lab equipment.

A familiar buzz faintly rung around the space. This alarm only went off if someone had been loitering outside the entrance for long enough. The only way through was to have Lena's thumbprint. An unmarked door in an obscure corridor on the ground floor of an L-Corp research facility had the privilege of largely being ignored. She made a point of checking the monitor to see who was waiting. Ninety nine percent of the time it was who she was expecting but she had been caught out once. Having been distracted by her work she had emerged without checking and startled an employee who had only been looking for a quiet part of the building. It turned out he had been hiding from his ex who also worked here. Luckily enough he had been too distracted by his relationship worries and the C.E.O. of his company suddenly chatting to him to question why Lena had appeared from an inconspicuous basement door. As the monitor flickered to life she saw that this time it was indeed Clark and Sam waiting patiently. She made a mental note not to call him Superman at any point, the multiple identities thing was exhausting to put up with, she dreaded to think what it was like to live it.

She pressed her thumb against a scanner and the doors opened, there was a small stairwell down to the lab itself and Lena could hear the two sets of footsteps echoing down.

"Evening," Clark said.

"Welcome back," she said. Sam walked beside him, she said nothing and seemed absent. She had plaited her red hair back in a long ponytail. It swung gently from side to side as they reached the last step. Lena's nerves only flared up slightly, being in her own lab and having Clark around made the whole experience a little easier.

"So, do you want me to talk through what will happen or do you just want to go for it?" Lena said, eyeing the machine from across the room. Sam let out a long and loud breath.

"Let's just get this done," she said. Lena was quietly relieved she could focus entirely on the task at hand. Her lab coat fluttered behind her as she strode over to the machine. With a press of a button the platform extended from the cylindrical chamber.

"Lie down on here," Lena said. Clark had taken up the role of keeping Sam comfortable which allowed Lena to look everything over unhindered. The hundreds of moving parts and small mechanical arms sprang to life, all visible through the transparent casing at the top. It self-diagnosed all its own joints and operations. It was a process Lena had already checked far too many times, but she wanted to look busy whilst Clark helped Sam onto the platform.

"We're right here with you," he said. They both knew it was not the procedure itself that had Sam so on edge, but Clark had a way of speaking that could put you at ease no matter what he said.

"Stay as still as you can," Lena said. Sam nodded and swallowed hard. Lena flicked a switch and Sam's platform retracted into the chamber. Red light glowed out and bounced around the lab's white walls, these scanners tracked Sam's position and took biological readings. The mechanical parts got to work shortly after. Lena watched the diagnostic readings in case she had to step in. The moving parts whirred away, adjusting to even the slightest movement from Sam. Sam was breathing heavily, even with the transparent panels it could be claustrophobic in that tube. Small mechanical arms pressed a joint against Sam's shoulder, it covered the uneven stump and provided a base for the prosthetic itself to attach too. Sam winced as it was clamped in place and dozens of needle-like tendrils adjusted it to an ideal fit. These needles retracted and more small arms took their place, they tested the security of the attachment and scanned to make sure all the elements had been implanted correctly. Everything looked to be in order and the machine's displays were showing ideal readings.

"We're halfway there," Lena said, Sam gave a hesitant nod and Lena initiated the second phase. The rest of the arm lifted out from a compartment beneath the machine and more mechanical claws dragged it closer to Sam's new shoulder joint. There was a series of clicks as it was pushed in and twisted into place. Sam had a distant look on her face, probably trying to zone out from the sounds and unpleasant sensations this machine was inflicting on her. A series of unsettling bolting noises shot out from the tube as all the miniature claws and tools attached the arm. The last few testing arms returned to prod at the seals and joints, satisfied, they pulled away and disappeared into the machine's various compartments. One final scan glowed at Sam before it powered itself down and provided Lena with an overview. The machine was happy with itself, claiming a negligible margin of error. Sam did not seem to be experiencing any pain or nausea. Lena extended the platform back out and Sam quickly sat herself up, planting her feet firmly on the ground. Lena could not help but smile at what she saw, the sight of sharp equipment drilling away so close to someone was nothing compared to the smile on Sam's face. She was overtaken with awe as she admired the new arm. She stretched out her fingers at twisted the it back and forth to take in the full extent of the sleek design.

"It feels just like the real thing," Sam said, unable to take her eyes off her hand as she continued to move it around. Clark looked equally impressed. Relieved nothing had gone wrong with the machine or her own concentration, Lena let them admire the arm whilst she grabbed a wayward mug from a nearby worktop. She filled it with water and held it out for Sam, who instinctively reached for it with her natural arm.

"Don't you want to try out the new one?" Lena said, glancing down at it. The jet-black materials were in stark contrast with Sam's white skin. Neither her or Doctor Dyer had found an organic looking covering that did not compromise its functionality. Sam looked to Clark, who gave her a thumbs up. She grabbed the mug by the handle and took a sip, the movement was natural and clean. Alex Danvers' regular check-ups with her own prosthetics had provided much more data and efficiency in the calibration process.

Sam could not control her smiling as she fiddled with the mug, she laughed slightly as she threw it up a few centimetres and caught it. Her mood was infectious as Clark and Lena grinned away as well. The anxieties she felt drifted away at seeing the elation.

"I'll need to run a few more tests, but you can be out of here soon," Lena said. She tried to hide it, but Sam's face dropped slightly.

"Will it take long?" Clark said.

"The scans don't show any errors and her fine motor control seems to good, it shouldn't be long at all" she said.

"That's great, I'll give Superman a call to give me a lift back to Metropolis. Once I get the green light from you we can talk to Ruby about moving back to National City," he said, smiling toward Sam. She forced and enthusiastic look back that promptly disappeared when he turned away. Lena escorted him to the door, scanning her thumb to let him out. She walked with him up the first few steps, waiting for the sound-proofed doors to close behind her before speaking up for any prying ears.

"Are you sure you want to get Ruby involved so quickly? Sam still seems a bit doubtful," she said.

"I don't think it will take long living with Ruby again to push those doubts away, but I see your point," he said, scratching his chin.

"I'll talk to her whilst we I do the final few checks, then I'll let you know one way or the other," she said.

"Are you alright being so personal with her on your own?" Clark asked.

"I can manage," Lena said.

"You're sure you don't want me to stay, I could wait in this stairwell?" He said.

"I know how I can be around her. But I think that's the very reason I'm the best one to talk to her. If I can stay calm it'd put her at ease," she said. Clark nodded slowly.

"I'll wait for your call," he said going up the last few stairs. He turned back one last time "By the way, moments like this are why I'm honoured to work with you, your strength in your convictions is something to be proud of."

"Thank you?" Lena said, unsure of what brought this on. Clark chuckled.

"Didn't mean to spring that on you, but I've always found that you shouldn't leave the positives unsaid," he said. With a smile and a nod, he disappeared up the stairs. She looked back to the door below. That anxiety that had mercifully faded away started to claw its way back into her mind. She did her best to shake it off and wasted no time in stepping through.

"So… tests?" Sam said. She was still sitting on the machine's platform.

"Tests." Lena said.

"Is it really this simple, a few minutes and I'm back out there," she said, watching her fingers as she stretched them out again.

"Well it's been a month of building up to it," Lena said.

"I guess," Sam said. Prodding at her new arm. Lena wheeled over a slab of concrete set up between to clamps. She puffed away, even with slick wheels, pushing it along was hard work. As she set it up in a padded testing area Sam gave her a concerned look.

"What's this?" She asked. Lena took a moment to catch her breath.

"Something I prepared earlier. We need to test the upper limits of that arm as well," Lena said. Sam stood up, eyeing the concrete slab suspiciously. Lena took a pair of safety glasses out of her pocket, handing them to Sam before pulling out a pair for herself.

"Upper limits…" Sam said, staring at the arm once again. "It feels wrong to just be given my strength back like this." There was a slight wobble in her voice.

"If we'd given you an arm with human strength you'd have had less control, the balance would feel unnatural and you would have a hard time controlling how much force to use," Lena said.

"You know that's not what I meant," Sam said. Lena tensed up, even being fully aware a conversation like this would happen did little to quell her stress.

"That wasn't you," Lena said, Sam sighed.

"I guess."

"Do you even remember what happened, was Reign ever really a part of you really are?" Lena said.

"No… yes… I don't know, there are flashes," Sam said.

"Well was whatever you remember a conscious decision?" Lena said, already knowing the answer.

"No, but I was there for it all. Just because I don't remember it, doesn't make me innocent," she said.

"Tell me what you know, what you saw," Lena said, hoping that getting her to really think back would help her realise it was not her fault.

"Apart from the occasional image here and there I don't properly remember any of it, the first thing I do remember was a lot of red, my body feeling like it was on fire, I'm one arm down and looking up at Superman," she said. Lena's throat was threatening to close up as the thoughts of Reign flooded her own mind. The mild pain was stuck there as she refused to let her voice crack.

"You don't remember it because it wasn't you, I've seen the scans and checked the data, whatever happened to you was out of your control. You can't hold yourself responsible," she said. Sam's shoulders slumped and she stared at the concrete slab.

"I guess I can't find the same comfort in science and theory that you do," she said. It was not easy to hear, she knew exactly where Sam was coming from but could not say it. All her knowledge did nothing to help her own irrational stress and fear. Even saying it out loud did nothing to dissuade these feelings when they came about. Lena cleared her throat again, not wanting to show any of her doubts to Sam.

"I'm here to help you, as are many others. We all want you to know it's okay to forgive yourself," Lena said. Sam's mouth pouted to the side. There was a long bout of silence as Sam wrestled with her own thoughts.

"So, what am I doing with this concrete slab?" Sam said. Lena hoped this was her first step toward acceptance.

"Punch it with the new arm, as hard as you can," she said. Sam squared up to it, the look of doubt still plaguing her face. With a violent burst her fist crashed through it, shattering it easily. Shrapnel was sent flying into the test area and the clamps that had been holding it in place bent back. Several displays lit up with sensor readings as the rubble skimmed against the floor and smaller pieces rolled to a stop at the sides. Sam held her arm out in place, staring at her clenched fist.

"I'd call that a success," Lena said. The aggressive stance Sam was in and the loud crashing made Lena want to freeze as her internal anguish ran rampant. She bit down hard on the inside of her mouth to keep herself in the moment.

"This kind of power around my daughter… it scares me," Sam said, she did not look away from her fist as she spoke. Lena told herself to breath and keep a brave face, Sam was going through just as hard a time as she was. It was a gargantuan effort to hide the stress going through her mind, but right now Sam needed her. She walked up to Sam, took her by the hand and sat her down on one of the stools.

"The tests can wait, let's just talk," Lena said. She got her phone out, she wanted to let Clark know she would be a while longer. She unlocked the screen, there was a text from Kara.

"Oddball isn't here" it read. She looked back to a distraught Sam. She sent back a quick reply with mildly trembling thumbs. Despite indirectly causing Lena's pain, there was a solidarity between her and Sam. Both were dealing with traumatic experiences caused by Reign. Lena pulled up next to her in the hope she could ease some of that pain.


	10. Front

Kara carelessly tossed her phone onto the table, it bounced upside-down and clattered itself to a stop. Her drink sat untouched as she looked around the bar. Despite not coming to this place for a long time, it was largely the same. The barren interior and lively atmosphere was once quite novel to her, now she was only left with a simmering anger. It was to be expected, a few rough-looking types laughed and drank away around her. The ring's drive was always pushing at her and there was no doubt some of the frequenters here deserved to be taken down a peg. Her own voice was telling her to start something, but it was a low hum in her head. She adjusted her stool and leaned her elbow on the high table, there were no free booths so she just watched them wistfully. None of them looked to be free any time soon as the glasses and bottles piled up at each one.

There was a vibration in her elbow, she looked down to a violently buzzing phone shifting itself along. She exhaled loudly and watched it come to a stop before bothering to pick it up.

"He's probably running late." It was hardly an inciteful text Lena provided her. She rested her head in her hand and watched the phone expectantly. She was not sure what she was expecting, the phone unapologetically locked itself from inactivity anyway.

A small hairless man covered in dark spots started walking purposefully in her direction. It was not a species she had seen before, but with aliens becoming an increasingly common sight in the city, seeing new people was no longer a surprise.

"Couldn't help but notice you were alone," he said, there was a natural amplification in his voice, as if two people were speaking at once. Kara gazed at him, her hand still pressing into her cheek.

"That would appear to be true," Kara said. The ring seemed to take little offense to the man, only an occasional angry blip surfaced from the hum.

"Might I ask if you want to be alone?" He said, eyeing the free stool opposite her. It was a good question, she regretted agreeing to Lena's request the moment she left the office. What little enthusiasm she had for the idea had faded fast as she found herself waiting in a tedious bar for someone she did not like. Her willingness to give Lena the benefit of the doubt was the only thing that kept her on that stool and at this point, even that was hanging by a thread.

"I'm waiting for someone," she said.

"Someone special?" The man asked.

"Sure, why not?" She said, keeping her flat expression.

"Fair enough, have a nice night," he said, slinking off. He was at least polite enough to respect her disinterest.

After a few minutes of people-watching and weighing up whether to leave, her ears picked up on another quick rapping on the door. She turned to it, sliding her glasses down the bridge of her nose. This time it was indeed Oddball that had found his way. The bouncer slid the partition open, Oddball looked at him impatiently.

"Can I help you?" The bouncer said.

"Open the door, Andre," Oddball said.

"No password, no entry," he said. Winn had told her tonight's password was "ice-pick." He knew not to ask follow-up questions or try and force her to go back her decisions, which was more than can be said for Alex. She was meeting with her in a couple of days and was dreading it almost as much as Oddball's arrival.

"I'm not giving you a stupid password," Oddball said.

"Then I guess you're staying outside," Andre said. Oddball folded his arms and looked at him expectantly. Andre put his hand up to the partition but hesitated to close it. He stood up briefly and glanced down the stairs. Looking visibly defeated he unlocked the door and Oddball sauntered in. He stopped at the first step.

"Ice-pick," he said with a wink.

"Why didn't you… whatever," Andre said with a groan. Oddball patted him on the shoulder.

"I wanted to see if you still had a soft spot for me," he said.

"That's a good way to go about losing it," Andre said. He tried to sound gruff but was still very much flustered.

"Love ya too, Andre," Oddball said as he made his way down. Kara reverted to her regular senses when Oddball's feet reached the final steps. She was near the back, away from a band's stage and obscured slightly by the other patrons. Oddball stood still, surveying the place with a grimace. He spotted her and caught her eye quickly. After a small wave he made his way to the bar, he was served quickly despite the busy surroundings. She listened in to his order out of curiosity.

"Beer, anything from another planet with a kick to it," he said.

"I warn you, that kind of stuff is extremely strong," the bartender said.

"I'm a resilient man," he said. The bartender shrugged and filled a glass from an unmarked draught. Oddball put down a crumpled five-dollar bill.

"Keep the change," he said.

"That drink is six dollars," the bartender said. Oddball scowled at him.

"Of course it is," he said as he reached into his pocket and slapped down another crumpled bill.

"Thank you," he said as he moved away. He weaved through with surprising speed and grace considering he had a full glass. His timing was perfect, striding between people standing up for pool shots and gaps opening at the bar's crowd. Kara looked up at him as the glass clonked down on to her table with only a few spilled drips rolling down the sides.

"Didn't want to start without me?" He said, her glass dinged as he lightly flicked it. She grunted at him. The stool scraped along the floor when he pulled up in front of her.

There were hints of bags under his eyes but apart from that everything was as expected, a wide grin and a plain hoodie. The ring had no interest in him whatsoever, but behind his irritating quirks something always seemed off about him. She could never place why he made her so uneasy. After closing her eyes for a few seconds and wallowing in the ring's hum she took a sip of her drink and spoke up.

"So what now?" She said.

"Lena didn't go into much detail as to why I'm here, but I'm here to help," he said. She took another sip of her drink, the overly-sweet taste tingled on her tongue for only an instant. The irony taste of blood in her mouth was a constant that only the strongest of flavours could fight through.

"She said that you've helped her, her thinking was you can do the same for me," she said.

"You don't sound convinced," he said.

"I don't need your help, this is a favour for Lena," she said. He scratched his head and sniffed loudly. His eyes darted around the room, quietly observing his surroundings. From the broken jukebox, to the scrum at the bar and the band starting to set up, he seemed just to be taking it all in.

"I don't know whether to be surprised that you like this place or not," he said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She said. He smacked his lips and leaning his head in his hands, mirroring her.

"There's layers to this place, I don't know which one you're on," he said.

"Is cryptic nonsense what helped Lena?" She said.

"I'm making conversation. If you like, you can list whatever's troubling you and I can nod meaningfully," he said. One of her fingers started to tap away at her jaw. An impatient shout emerged from the hum.

"The constant double-speak, the lying and that smug attitude you sport. I don't get how Lena thinks you can help me," she said. Oddball did not even blink at the insults.

"Pulling no punches, I can respect that. Whilst I have my way of doing things, you're wrong about the lying thing," he said.

"Is that right, Monarch?" She said. A wry half-grin lifted on his face.

"I'm Monarch to Lena, Oddball to you. No lie there," he said.

"One, if not both of those names are false," she sat up and folded her arms.

"Who says I can't be both? We all hide parts of ourselves, usually people hide the same type of things away. You and I probably have some similar secrets, or even me and that bartender over there. Sometimes it's for convenience, sometimes it's a necessity and sometimes it's just fun." He sat up as well and drummed at the table. "You can call that lying if you like, but I wouldn't call it dishonest." Kara slowly let herself relax again, her own experiences sprung to mind as he spoke.

"So, what is it you're hiding from me and Lena?" She said.

"It wouldn't be hidden if I told you would it?" He said, raising his glass and gulping down a sizable chunk of his pint.

"Well I'd say that gives me the right not to trust anything you say or do," she said.

"More power to you for it, but I think you'd be stretched to find someone who'd reveal everything about themselves just because you asked," he said. His reasoning was fair, but that niggling doubt she had about him refused to subside. She tried to tune into the ring's faint humming, but it gave no insight to the strange man.

"Besides, Lena and I are friends, that's her prerogative, not yours," he said.

"Keeping her safe is definitely my prerogative," she said, another wave lashed out from the hum. She clenched her fist under the table, letting the frenzied demands wash back into it. Oddball seemed to catch himself and sighed.

"I suppose I should be more sympathetic, those parts that are hidden away can't always be controlled. Hell, you've seen that first hand," he said. Kara leaned back and her eyes narrowed again, she stopped herself looking down at her ring finger.

"What are you implying?" She said. Oddball raised an eyebrow at her suspicion.

"Lena told me you were there when Reign first emerged," he said.

"Right… yes," Kara said, trying to downplay how she had reacted.

"I can assure you I have nothing hidden away that's dangerous. And I obviously mean no harm. To be honest between the two of us Lena is far scarier," he said.

"How is Lena scary?" she said, doing her best to make her scepticism of the idea abundantly clear.

"Seriously?" Oddball said. Kara looked at him like he was mad.

"Kara, this is a woman that bought one of the largest media empires in the country because she was bored. Apparently heading her own international company, research in just about every scientific field, philanthropy, answering fan-mail and losing to me at pool wasn't enough to keep her occupied. If she weren't the compassionate sort, which it sounds like you coaxed out of her, well done on that, she could turn that ridiculous drive and capability of hers against someone and bring down a whole world of pain," he said. Kara did not react, recently it had been easy to forget that Lena was more than just her counselling friend. Having her described in such a blunt manner served as a reminder as to how incredible Lena was. She started to cough as a pain in her chest spiked and the hum in her head got quieter. When her shoulders began to feel heavy she refocused on Oddball and let the hum back into her mind.

"Are you okay?" Oddball asked.

"Fine," she said, lightly hitting her chest.

"So how much do you know about Sam and Reign?" she said, wanting to move on quickly. Oddball shrugged.

"Lena tells me things," he said.

"Like what?" She said

"Apparently Supergirl gave her a nasty beatdown, I can't tell you a lot more than that," he said. Kara shifted uncomfortably in her stool. It was a vivid memory she very much wanted to put behind her.

"You know what I do for a living, I can always find out more for you," she said.

"A reporter poking around one of the more unstable elements out there, probably not the best idea," he said.

"I can be discreet, I'm good at my job," she said.

"I've seen your articles. What I gather from them is that you're very close to Supergirl. That'd just be more fuel for the World Killing fire. Unless you know more something the fight itself, that could be fun," he said. Kara shifted again, clearing her throat and concentrating hard on the present. She could not let herself revert to the mindset of that day.

"What's there to say, there was likely some punching involved," she said. Oddball's reaction was one of mild disappointment, she was not sure what more he wanted from her. Ignoring it, she carried on. "As for the relevant information, I can still help. Lena tells me you love to be in the know about this sort of thing," she said, not wanting to press too hard. It was Supergirl that knew how deep he was in with the World Killers, not Kara. There was the option of telling him Supergirl told her, but there was always a risk of suspicion when crossing over that sort of knowledge.

"If you want to get stuck in, Lena's the one to ask. Isn't she basically your boss anyway? I mean CatCo is like ninety nine percent her company now," he said. Kara backed off, it was going nowhere and pursuing this angle was already going against Lena's wishes. The faint hum buzzed at her louder and a few coherent thoughts of rage poked through the noise when she decided to let the matter go.

A long silence fell between them. The bar's atmosphere started to rise and the band looked like they were about to get started, some people squeezed past their table in an effort to get closer to the stage. Oddball seemed to check his pockets as people brushed aside him, he also looked to be weighing up something in his head. She ignored it and finished the last of her drink, the bubbles had died a while ago and the flat drink had become quite sickly, the bloody taste worked in her favour as it quickly diluted the overload of sugar.

"You don't like me because you don't trust me, right?" Oddball asked.

"Amongst other things," she said, that uneasy instinct of hers having never gone away.

"How about I chuck you a freebie, information for information's sake? Could even help with that job of yours," he said.

"Fire away," she said, resigned to whatever avenue he was pursuing.

"I'm gonna guess you know about this place from a nervous source, or if not that it was a Fed or Cop that clued you in," he raised his voice as the music kicked in.

"That's true, so what?" She said.

"Are you not curious as to how I guessed that?" He said.

"It's an underground bar, word gets out," she said.

"Word gets out," he said with a smile. "And I'm sure plenty of helpful rumours have made their way to you here."

"Where are you going with this?" she said.

"You, Kara Danvers, are sitting in a front bar," he said, as if the statement deserved triumph.

"Should that mean something to me?" She said. Oddball scratched his chin.

"So that's the layer you're at," he said.

"I don't know why I'm still listening to this," she said. He put his hands out.

"Okay I'll clarify. There are plenty of illegitimate businesses and shenanigans, not all of them human, happening all over this city. They enjoy a certain amount of freedom," he said.

"And?" Kara said.

"And, they have their ways of keeping that freedom. When nosy people get on their trail they're directed to a place like this. Places with a grungy vibe, inflated secrecy and alien element are enough to make these nosy people think they've found what they're looking for, that they're in the know. When in reality, they've just found a crappy bar. A front bar, if you will," he said.

"If that's right and there's this criminal cabal running the city, then how do these rumours I keep hearing surface?" she said.

"You're thinking like a reporter, that this is some grand conspiracy to be blown wide open. These are lots of different people going about their lives and running their own little operations. How do you think alien booze is in such plentiful supply when there are literally no local laws for interplanetary trading?" He said.

"You're telling me alien moonshine operations are the primary source of knowledge in this city," she said.

"Not just them, but yeah. I mean if the city is in danger, that's bad for business. When one of these operations discovers something of note from their unknown position, they need a way to communicate it to the authorities without drawing attention to themselves. They let the information out in a place where they know nosy humans like to dwell, and bam, job done." Kara looked around at the jovial atmosphere, the band began to play and bad dancing by the stage followed. Looking at it with this critical eye did make some of the roughness she had perceived dissolve away.

"The management seem happy to be endorsed by criminals," she said with a sneer. Oddball scoffed.

"Please, management doesn't know their bar's role in all this. They think that an obscure location and no branding whatsoever is a smart business decision. Not even questioning how they can draw in these sorts of numbers," he said.

"So this bar id s tool for criminals instead, I now trust you completely," she said.

"That's a level of sarcasm no-one deserves… and criminal is far too strong a word. I just thought it'd be something you'd like to know," he said. Kara adjusted her glasses.

"Why tell me this, what do you serve to gain?" she said.

"You wouldn't believe good will, would you?" he said.

"No," she said.

"Well the moral of this little story is the rumours that flow to this bar help everyone, you included. Just because there's some questionable things hidden under the surface, doesn't mean you can't trust it," he said. Kara blinked at with a neutral expression, then looked down at her empty glass.

"I'll get another round," Oddball said, springing up from his stool before she had a chance to say anything. The mediocre band played on and Oddball effortlessly found his way to the front of the crowded bar. He had hardly endeared himself to her, but there was no harm in one more round.


	11. Intrusion

She had learned every inch of her bedroom's ceiling. It had been weeks since she had slept, physical fatigue had gradually been stamped out by the ring. The hum in her head and the intense booms of her heart kept her body active at all times. She always hoped the weight of the duvet and resting in the darkness would do something to coax her mind to shut down. The inevitable restlessness had her switching between pacing around the apartment and further attempts at lying in bed, tossing and turning until she returned to her pacing once more. Her whole life had boiled down to taming her emotions, there was no escaping it except for the few times Lena could get through to her. Even if it never came, sleep could be another respite. Nothing would stop her trying.

She shifted onto her side, dragging the duvet with her. Oddball's words were aimlessly running around her mind as sleep continued to elude her. Lena seemed sure he could help her in some way, but all he had done was accidentally make her ask questions about herself. As ever, toward the end of the night, Oddball had wandered off with only the vaguest of explanations. He was difficult to tolerate in anything other than short bursts, so she had been happy to let him go. He said little of significance to her anyway, playing his relationship with the World Killer investigation very close to his chest. His dancing around the issue was likely Lena's request, but it made it no less frustrating to deal with. Everything else he had said mostly rung hollow, it was just the odd phrase and strange platitudes that got to her. What he had said about the bar was spinning in her mind, the multiple masquerades of it and unwittingly playing its part in a larger scheme. Layers stacking on top of each other until there was no real identity left. She had gotten to grips with her own similar struggle between Kara and Supergirl, but the thralls of the Red Lantern threw everything she had settled on into disarray. The lines between these sides of herself were all blurring together and she had no idea if she was alright with it. Wrestling with these thoughts had kept her occupied all night, trying to come to any sort of conclusion or closure. Switching between staring up in the dark and wearing out the floorboards went on. Light had started to peak out from the horizon and was poking through the clouds, the sound of cars and commuters rose up as the whole city began to wake for the new day.

Her relative idleness was becoming difficult to handle, Lena would probably insist her break had not been long enough. As it stood, staying in her apartment with Oddball's words stirring her up felt more aggravating than getting out there and helping people. The humming was also tugging away at her, demanding that its need for justice be satiated. As more hours went by her inner-voice turned to shouting, an unbearable need to get out of the apartment and fight was taking over. She shut her eyes tight and ground her teeth. She held out as long as she could but started to break when particularly strong calling flared up from nowhere. This episode had quickly grown stronger than most, it was refusing to be ignored and the hum became coherent words, beckoning her away. Meditation techniques Lena had taught her only served to delay the demands. Usually when the ring acted up she could let it pass or she had the fortitude to go to Lena before it could escalate. The heat of her blood rose and the distinct irony taste flooded her mouth. Her eyes shot open, the ring was glowing. She turned to a mirror and saw the rage in her eyes. There was no real choice, she untied her hair and in a flash, the Red Lantern Uniform materialised around her. The bold red burst out from her plain clothing, the outline of the hybrid House of El and Red Lantern symbol gradually emerged on her chest. She took off her glasses, taking a moment to look down at them. The calling came to her again. The crunch of the lenses barely registered as she crushed the glasses in her fist. With a laboured breath she made her way to the window. She opened it up and a breeze blew across her face and into her hair. A long and slow inhale filled her nostrils, she shook off the smell of exhaust and shot out the window. She left a red streak in her wake, following the instinct and her own voice. She had grown to trust this sense she had for crime and danger. It could be overwhelming, but when in control it was perfect for tracking where she was needed all over the world. She had been stuck at the whim and the knowledge of the D.E.O. before, rarely leaving National City. The ring had its terrible price but in its own strange way, granted her freedom.

This particular instinct for her intervention was close, she came to an immediate stop very soon after setting off. She was hovering over Metropolis, whatever drew her here was nearby. The sky was grey and the midday sun was still hiding behind the clouds, she was a shining red star in dull backdrop. The city showed no immediate sign of activity out of the ordinary. She honed her senses, listening and watching from high above. She let the ring's influence into her head and it naturally guided her sight to a far-off mall. Gun-shots and screaming filled her ears, she sped toward the danger. She assessed what she was seeing in the split-second it took to reach the mall. There was a single man with a gun, surrounded by civilians on their knees. His face was partially covered with a red bandana, eye-holes were cut out of it revealing a glee to his actions. His laughter cut through the panicked screams of escaping bystanders as he fired off rounds aimlessly upward, no-one had been hurt and it was clear he was actively avoiding trying to hit anyone. A large bandolier was slung around his shoulder and bounced loosely against his muscular frame.

Kara crashed through the glass, not waiting for the automatic doors to slide open. She slowed down significantly on her approach, hitting him at such a high speed would kill him instantly. To her chagrin he managed to point a pistol at a hostage's head and the word "stop," came out of his mouth. Going for him was too risky, either he could get a shot off or her attempt to stop him would kill him. She came to a halt, hovering a few feet in the air with her arms folded. He was pointing an assault rifle at her, but his other hand still had the pistol trained on a hostage.

"Superman was the one I thought would come, but you're on my list as well," he said. The ring's disdain for the man was palpable. Whilst it took a lot of concentration to keep herself under control, once she was in the fray the ring was usually more co-operative. Even with her heart pounding violently in her chest, she was sound enough in mind to know the virtues of patience and caution.

"You may as well give up," she said. He said nothing, he only laughed at her. She narrowed her eyes, he was far too confident given the situation. She inspected the gun from afar, there were a lot of electronics packed into its scope, but it was the green glow from inside the barrel that caught her attention. She had to assume it was Kryptonite-based, unless the man was completely unhinged nothing else would make him believe he could take out her or Superman.

"I'm growing impatient," she said. Sirens were coming into ear-shot, she wanted this dealt with before the police potentially escalated the situation.

"Well you don't have to wait any longer, people will forever remember Bloodsport as the man who took down Supergirl," he announced to the room. The hostages gasped as he pulled the trigger of the assault rifle. The thundering gunshot's echoed in the open space and a surprisingly accurate spray of glowing-green bullets hurtled toward her. She made no effort to dodge or destroy them, her red aura simply glowed brighter as she activated her ring's life-support shielding. The bullets evaporated, hissing into nothing as they impacted her shielding. She let out a small growl as the urge to retaliate burned in her mind and her blood began to boil. She forced it away, instead staying in place, unflinching with her arms still folded.

"You better have a plan B," she said through gritted teeth. The smile on Bloodsport's face dropped, his theatrics had backfired as he stared in disbelief at the barrel of his gun. Her ring could sense his anger rising, she was ready to get in the way of any rash shots at the civilians he might take. This anger quickly subsided and after shaking his head in a quick motion, he dropped his pistol and pulled a detonator from his bandolier.

"As a matter of fact, I do. There's bombs strapped to more hostages all around this mall." He pressed the button on top and held it down. It clicked and beeped as he backed away toward one of the shops. "And if I let go of this, they explode. Come anywhere near me or try to follow me and their deaths will be on your hands." She glanced around the room, none of the hostages on the main floor were wired up to anything. She started to look through the mall with X-ray vision.

"Ah, ah ,ah. No peaking til I'm clear," he said, waving the detonator at her. Kara growled under her breath and her pounding heartbeat grew stronger. The ring's influence in her head was obvious, the temptation not to hold off on his punishment lingered in her mind. She glared at him, ignoring the urge to lunge at him and instead tried to read his face. He gave nothing away to show if it were a bluff or not, all she could do was wait. She switched to X-ray vision when he backed out of sight. The shop he was backing into had a back door to a smaller car-park at the side. His rifle's scope was still trained on her, the amount of attention he paid to it suggested he could see her through the walls. She could not risk moving until he faced away. Her anger changed to confusion as a person quietly landed outside the exit and waited, she was not sure not to make of them as they appeared to have some form of wings. There was nothing she could do as Bloodsport still kept watch, ready to detonate the bombs if she did anything. When he reached the door, back-kicking it open, this person grabbed him from behind with surprising speed. Her eyes widened at the prospect of him losing grip of the detonator, but this person had quickly reached for his hand and held his thumb on the detonator. His struggling ended quickly, Bloodsport was no match for whoever had showed up. The opportunity had presented itself. She had little concern for how Bloodsport's situation developed, all she saw was her chance to clear the bombs whilst the detonator was forced down. She sped around the whole mall, counting five people with bomb-vests in hidden away places like changing rooms and stock areas.

She whipped back around to a handcuffed and whimpering first hostage.

"He said if I moved it'd explode," she said. Supergirl said nothing, getting in close to inspect the vest. It seemed unlikely anything would set them off but the detonator, Bloodsport's escape plan would be worthless if they detonated prematurely. The explosives were all packed onto the front and none of the wiring extended further back.

"He lied to you," she said. Taking off the vest while she was handcuffed would be tricky and whilst it was unlikely to set them off, she still did not want to risk more movement than necessary.

"I'm going to need you to stay as still as possible," she said, extended her hand out. A beam slowly emerged from the ring and when it reached the explosives, a red bubble formed around them. She concentrated hard as the bubble formed around the back side, making sure to completely cut them off from the vest itself without going too far the other way and hurting the person. Whether this hostage's ability to stay still and quiet was out of bravery or fear mattered little to her, either way it helped her close off the bubble and pull the explosives clear. With a sigh of relief, she ripped the handcuff's links apart.

"The police will be here soon," Supergirl said.

"Thank you, Supergirl," she said, rubbing her wrists. Without acknowledging her, she shot off to the next bomb-vest. She kept an eye on Bloodsport's thumb with X-ray vision, whoever it was seemed to be doing very little except holding him in place. She repeated the process for the remaining explosives, the hostages were in varying degrees of panic. She had to hold one of them down to stop his squirming, but she gauged the distance better each time and it became an efficient process. The sirens had risen and began to come to a stop as police began to mobilise outside, she spotted officers starting to run in and check on the hostages on the main floor.

She broke through the roof and flew high into the sky, dragging the five beams with bubbled explosives from her ring. Clear of any civilisation she shrank the bubbles away, crushing the contents inside. It was only when each of the bubbles had become very small that the bombs exploded, they were easily contained. Being crushed together at high speed and the heat from her shielding must have set them off as below, Bloodsport's thumb was still held firmly in place. The immediate threat was dealt with, she did another quick sweep in case she had missed any but found nothing. She turned her attention to Bloodsport, who was still being held close by this mysterious figure. Supergirl came to a halt just outside shop he had backed through and slowed to a walking pace, wanting to get a full view of the situation.

The distinct black and red of the Red Lantern uniform immediately caught her eye as she landed, the red power ring twinkled in this person's hand. She was right in the face of her victim. This other Red Lantern was a voluptuous woman with light blue skin, a winged hood and mask covered majority of her head. Menacing wings of bone stretched out from her back as she whispered in the ear of a worried-looking Bloodsport. She ran a sharp nail lightly down his face and kept her grip over his thumb tight. Supergirl upped her pace as her ring could feel a strong sense of anger within this newcomer.

"How many bombs are there?" Supergirl said, catching the attention of them both. Bloodsport almost seemed relieved to see her.

"How many?" she said again. Bloodsport appeared to come to some sort of sense again and spoke out.

"Four," he said. Supergirl snarled at him and staved off the urge to attack, she heard a rise out of the other Red Lantern's heart as well.

"I just disarmed more than four. It'd be wise not to lie to me," she said.

"Those threats about tearing you limb from limb weren't jokes, I can always rip off your hand and take this little toy of yours with me. Then we won't need you at all," The other Red Lantern said with a sneer in her voice. Bloodsport's eyes nervously flitted between them.

"Okay, there's five, that's the truth," he said. He yelled out in pain and fell to his knees as the other Red Lantern start pulling at his hand.

"I swear it's the truth, five people, five bombs," he blurted out. Supergirl was lost in his suffering for a few more moments before snapping back and grabbing the wrist of this other Lantern.

"I've dealt with five bombs," she said. A brief flash of extreme anger came across this woman's face as perfect teeth were bared at her. Their rings sparked and fizzled, though they died down quickly.

"If I hear any explosions, you'll wish I'd just ripped off your hand," she said, lifting her thumb. A distinct click came from the detonator, followed by silence.

"Good boy," she said, just before cracking him in the jaw with a mean right hook. Supergirl felt a rush of ecstasy as Bloodsport hit the ground with a thud. She hesitantly stepped in front of the encroaching Red Lantern and kneeled over to check on him. He was still alive, though his jaw was almost completely displaced.

"That was unnecessary," Supergirl said, not entirely convincing herself as she spoke.

"Don't pretend you didn't enjoy that," the Lantern said, wiping her fist and checking her nails.

"I didn't need your help," she said.

"You're welcome." The seductive tone to her voice was accentuated by her uniform's stylings. The top was a tight fit, her high boots had heels and connected up to her uniform like stockings. Her exposed thighs, bright yellow eyes and extensive wings of bone made her appearance even more striking.

"Who are you and what do you want," Supergirl spat out.

"My name is Bleez, and darling, you're just the woman I've been looking for," she said.


	12. Acquaintance

"I'm not interested," Kara said, wearily eyeing the new arrival.

"Without hearing what I have to say, after so graciously helping you?" Bleez said.

"I didn't ask for your help," Kara said, crouching down to inspect Bloodsport's limp body. He was out cold, but still breathing. His loose jaw was quite the sight, though it did not activate any kind of remorse within her. His gun lay by his side, how he got a hold of Kryptonite-based technology was the burning question.

"Your brand of help means I can't question him," she said. Bleez chuckled

"He deserves to suffer, I'm making him suffer. What more do you need?" she said. Kara got distracted by footsteps. Police were making their way through and investigating the scene. Standing in a backdoor to the carpark with an unknown woman in a matching uniform was suspicious. Add a heavily injured Bloodsport and it would not be an easy situation to explain. For a moment she thought about grabbing the gun, but with an expectant Bleez and the encroaching authority she decided it was easier to get out of there.

"I'm leaving," she said.

"So soon?" Bleez said, the timbre of her voice made every sentence sound teasing and flirtatious.

"Follow me, or don't, I don't really care," Kara said, taking off. The hostages could identify Bloodsport and the gun would undoubtedly end up in the D.E.O.'s possession. If anything, it could be a useful topic of distraction for her meetup with Alex.

After initially bursting high above the clouds, she kept her speed quite slow. The ring was satiated for the time being and her mind was settling back to the low hum. There was also the fact she was in no rush to return to her apartment for more frustrated attempts at a break.

Their red auras shone brightly over the grey cloud layer. The stars twinkled above them as the inky black of space stretched out into infinity. As Kara flew, Bleez gently spiralled around her, the wings of bone were even more impressive gliding in the breeze. Knowing full well the ring could do all the work with flight, she was sure she had her wings on full display merely to show off.

"You're awfully curt," Bleez said, still spiralling around her flight path.

"You took a big risk letting his thumb go. If there were more bombs, innocent people would have died," she said.

"He was too scared to lie to us. As you wouldn't let me take his hand it seemed like a good compromise," Bleez said, a quiet outcry emerged from the hum.

"Why are you following me?" Kara said.

"I haven't had a "thank you" yet," she said with a flamboyant flap of her wings. Kara grumbled to herself, wanting to steer the conversation away from the pointless prodding.

"Why are you really here? You're the first other Red Lantern I've seen in a long time," she said.

"It took me this long to find you, dear. As for why, you didn't really think that little display of yours on Ysmault went unnoticed, did you?" She said. Kara's eyes flitted away. Her time on that dreadful wasteland of a planet felt like an eternity ago. Without full control over her actions it had been a blur of heat, confusion and blood. It was one of the first thing's she remembered after Alex losing her arms and nearly being killed by Reign. She shuddered as she thought back to it and a familiar sea of shouting rattled in her ears for a moment.

"I see it's a fond memory," Bleez said, bringing Kara back to Earth.

"I wanted to leave. I did. So what?" She said.

""So what?" She says," Bleez chuckled with another flap of her wings, a gentle wave of air brushed against Kara. "You challenge Atrocitus, win, and only have that to say for yourself?"

That fight had been the most intense experience of her life, Atrocitus' power was beyond anything she had known. The landscape of the already desolate planet of Ysmault took a severe beating when they went at each other. Of the many Red lanterns that watched, one of the slower ones had even been severely injured when she unleashed the full fury of her rage-powered heat vision. All that raw power had only managed to slow Atrocitus down until she got in a knock-out blow in with a construct. Due to her state of mind at the time and complete lack of knowledge of the Red Lantern Corps she had not thought much about that encounter since.

"I wasn't challenging him, he was just in my way," Kara said.

"Darling, I know you're quite new to this, so I'll spell it out for you. Any defiance to Atrocitus' authority is a challenge. He's always led the Red Lanterns and put anyone dumb enough to question that in their place, at least until you came along," Bleez said.

"The squabbles for power you Red Lanterns have mean nothing to me," she said. Bleez swooped in front of her with gritted teeth, the flirty façade vanished and a look of pure fury burned in her eyes. Kara stopped dead, her ring reacted to the outburst and Kara struggled to keep her thinking peaceful. She clenched her fists and met the glare of Bleez.

"You think you're above this," Bleez snarled.

"Whatever struggles you Red Lanterns have on Ysmault is no concern of mine," Kara said, speaking loudly and slowly in an effort to stay calm.

"There's no "you" in this. Only "us." You took that ring just like everyone else in the Corps," she said.

"I use this ring to protect this planet, nothing more," Kara said.

"You can deny it all you like, but as long as you wear that uniform you're a Red Lantern, just like the rest of us," She said. Kara's whole body was shaking and her eyes began to glow, the ring was reacting fiercely to Bleez's rage. Her heart began to boom and the boiling heat roared around her body. She sucked in the air through her teeth, trying to level herself. She latched on to any calming thoughts she could muster. Bleez had backed off in fear, the fire in her eyes had all extinguished. Supergirl's aggressive posturing had her cowering and bracing herself for an onslaught. Kara took short, sharp breaths and focused on the decreasing volume of her heartbeat, a pang of curiosity struck Bleez' expression after Kara's eyes faded and her posture returned to normal. She shook off and ran her hands through her hair, recovering from her struggle.

"You didn't hurt me…" Bleez said.

"You'd be wise not to push me further," Kara said, slumping and slowing down her breathing.

"First the construct, now restraint. No wonder Atrocitus is so scared of you," Bleez said, still slightly weary. Kara rubbed her forehead, no doubt the headache that had emerged was going to hound her for a while.

"Afraid?" She said.

"Before your… attitude… set me off..." Bleez looked at her ring. "I was intending to tell you that Atrocitus is very much up to something and you're at the core of it."

"I don't want anything to do with him," she said.

"You aren't the only one, darling, but I'm going to have to hold that thought," Bleez said, putting a finger up and looking intently into the distance. A green glow was hurtling toward them. "Your arrogance was getting to be enough for one day, now we have to deal with a Green one." Kara raised her eyebrow at the comment, but let it slide as the Green blur got closer. This Green Lantern looked human, but as he closed in she saw he wore a different pattern and his features were covered by a full facemask.

"It's bad enough one Red Lantern operates on my planet, imagine my annoyance when my ring tells me that another has shown up," he said. His voice was familiar, but Kara could not quite place it.

"You're not Jordan," Bleez said, narrowing her eyes.

"It doesn't matter who I am, what matters is what's going on here," he said. Kara stayed quiet, watching them both carefully.

"We're just talking, I assume your precious Guardians wouldn't have a problem with that," Bleez said. Kara's ring seemed to be picking up more anger from the Green Lantern than Bleez.

"My precious Guardians would have a problem if you Reds are planning something," he said.

"Even if we were, I'd like to see a rookie try and apprehend us," Bleez said, that tone of hers added heavily to the mocking vibe.

"I want no part of whatever this is," Kara said. A narrow glare from Bleez cut through her smooth façade once more. Her grin returned quickly as the Green Lantern spoke once more.

"I won't do anything unless you give me a reason, but I'll be keeping a close eye on the both of you," he said. Kara was frustrated that she could not place his voice, it was on the tip of her mind but just out of her memory's grasp.

"Aww, the new Green Lantern wants to act tough," Bleez said, folding in her wings.

"Don't you have better things to be doing than throwing empty warnings at us?" Kara said, she could only hold her disdain for the Green Lantern Corps for so long.

"As a matter of fact, I do, but tread carefully Supergirl. The Guardians of the Universe are still watching Earth very closely," he said.

"If you and your friends hadn't utterly failed to find the Daxamite Prince, then Earth wouldn't have this problem," Kara said with a snarl. Bleez's grin only grew wider as Kara spoke. The Green lantern folded his arms, it was hard to read his thinking behind the facemask. Whatever had popped into his head, he had decided it was not worth it.

"You try anything that's a threat, I'll be there," he said. He flew off quickly, clearly wanting to be the one to have the last word. The Green blur faded into the distance. Kara groaned and turned to a smiling Bleez.

"What?" Kara said.

"Looks like you and the Green Lanterns have an interesting history," she said.

"I don't think I know that one. But Jordan and the Guardians think I'm too dangerous," Kara said.

"Yes… News would spread quickly if Jordan had died… Two Green Lanterns per sector, it really is true," she said, caressing her chin.

"Is there a point to any of this," Kara said, reaching the edge of her patience.

"It would be another reason Atrocitus has been so busy," Bleez said, more thinking out loud than speaking to her.

"Make whatever point you came here for, then leave me alone," Kara said. Bleez rubbed her hands together and leaned forward.

"When you cast doubt on Atrocitus' strength it caused quite the upset. Not only sheer power but the ability to summon a construct set you as a potential challenger to his leadership," she said.

"I don't want anything to do with the Corps," Kara said. Bleez swallowed hard, Kara could sense that such disinterest was angering her.

"Doesn't matter to them, and more importantly it doesn't matter to Atrocitus. After you left he had one of his blood rituals and flew off, muttering about the constructs and expansion. His ramblings didn't mean a whole lot to me, but he's been travelling all over the universe to gather every Red Lantern he can find. I'm firmly in the belief he's rallying them so he can kick you back into line," she said.

"Why are you telling me this, what does warning me gain you?" Kara said, unsure whether to trust what she was hearing.

"As I said, dear, you're a challenge to his leadership. There are a lot of us that would be glad to see the end of Atrocitus' reign," she said.

"And why's that?" Kara said.

"There are those of us who don't like how he operates, those of who are tired of his iron fist, and many of us who just plain don't like him. It wouldn't take much persuasion to get an awful lot of the Corps on your side," she said. Kara did not like what she was hearing, whatever discontent had built up amongst the Red Lanterns had come to a boiling point and now she might be in the centre of it all.

"How many times do I have to say that I am not interested?" She said.

"You'll have to be interested, darling. He'll be coming for you sooner or later. With other members of the Corps on your side you might actually stand a chance," Bleez said.

"What's in this for you? She said.

"I've been a Red Lantern for long enough to know that change is needed. You're the only one strong enough to bring it," Bleez said. Kara sighed and looked out into the stars. She could only hope Bleez was exaggerating or being an alarmist. The last thing she wanted was Earth to be in danger because of some stupid grudge. Fighting Atrocitus one on one had pushed her to the limit, there was no way she could face him backed by the entire Corps of Red Lanterns. She reluctantly turned to Bleez.

"What do you suggest?" She asked.

"You do the same as him. Find as many Red Lanterns as you can and convince them you're the one to follow. With me by your side it'll be an awfully persuasive pitch," Bleez said.

"I can't leave the planet. It needs protection," she said. The World Killers took priority above all else.

"Oh, how noble," Bleez said, sounding disappointed. "Although it also sounds like the Greens will start meddling if you get up to too much." Kara rubbed the bridge of her nose, nervous of the consequences of getting more involved in the situation. She came up with a compromise that would both buy her time and hopefully not ruffle any feathers in the Corps.

"I want more information, go out there and gauge everything you can. Understand that this is not a recruitment drive, I have no intention of starting a war" she said. Bleez shot a playful smile at her.

"You may not have a choice, my dear, but I'll see what I can do," she said.

"I want you report back to me regularly, if conflict can be avoided I want to know about it right away," she said.

"Your wish is my command, darling." She said, she stopped to think for a moment. "How do I find you again? I know to look for you on this little planet now but it's still quite the area to cover."

"How did you find me in the first place?" Kara said, hoping for a simple solution.

"A lot of asking around and a bit of luck," Bleez said. Supergirl frowned, it was an unhelpful answer. She considered having Bleez stay with her and giving her a phone, but until she had more information, she wanted to keep this quiet and away from Earth. It was also a risk to show Bleez any of her life as Kara Danvers.

"I usually reside in a place called National City, it's on the West coast of this continent. To reach me, go there, say my name enough times and I'm bound to pick it up," she said, making a mental note to herself to keep an ear out for Bleez's distinctive tones.

"Very well, Supergirl. It's been a pleasure," Bleez said. She rose into the sky, stretching out her wings once more. Twisting upward, her red shielding ignited in a swirl of flame as she rocketed away. Kara floated in place and stared down at her ring, it glimmered at her. The burdens of the ring always found a way to grow.


	13. Friction

Waiting for Alex in her cluttered apartment was bad enough, but now her floorboards suffered even more pacing with so much to think about. The encounter lingered in her mind, Bleez was different to how she expected. Until now, Red Lanterns were supposed to be nothing more than chaotic and angry monsters. Even with her outburst, the way Bleez presented herself and spoke was in jarring contrast to how they had been described to her. It dawned on her how little she knew about the Corps she unwittingly joined. Whilst there was no reason to believe everything she said, it would be worth spending more time with her to find out just how the others operated and if any were trustworthy. It was already apparent they were not a homogenous, united group. She briefly entertained the idea of asking Hal more in-depth questions. She bobbed her head to the side, mildly amused at the likely outcome of rocking up and asking if the Red Lanterns were not all so bad. With his apparent grudge against them, it would likely end badly regardless. The possibility of Alex asking him for her sprung to mind, though her view was as likely skewed as Hal's. Alex had never accepted her decision to keep the ring and it felt like she would merrily blame just about anything on the Red lanterns. It was that attitude that sparked her encroaching dread whenever she agreed to meet with her. They had tried a few times before to smooth things out, it always ended the same way. Awkward small talk would build up tension and either Alex's aggravation from not addressing the issue became unbearable or Alex would break, starting off the same circular argument. Even after these spats, Lena kept encouraging her to work something out with her.

Her feet never really settled as she connstantly walked between the rug and the smooth kitchen area, glancing up at her clock every few seconds. She weaved between the mess in her apartment as Alex's arrival ticked ever closer. There was at least some satisfaction that this sense of dread was all her own and not the ring's direct influence, she had to take little victories like that. A few minutes before that arrival time, she checked herself in the mirror. No disguises, no glasses, just a loose shirt and tracksuit bottoms, she hoped the casual look would disarm Alex a bit. She felt less and less like this version of Kara every day, she had a strong feeling Alex could sense that about her.

Footsteps echoed in the hall outside, the confident thudding of her approaching sister was unmistakable. Not waiting for a knock, she opened the door slightly ajar and took a seat on her sofa. She watched Alex's final few steps, when she got to the door she noticed it was already open. Alex made a quick decision to just push it open and walk in instead of knocking. Kara stood up and forced a smile as her sister came toward her. One awkward hug later and they were facing each other on the sofa.

"Your arm control seems to get better every time," Kara said.

"Yeah," Alex said, glancing aside. Kara already felt like she was running out of things to say, she was annoyed at herself at missing saying hello to fill up even a few seconds more. After clearing her throat and an eternity of silence, more babble popped into her head.

"Will you be able to go back in the field soon?" She said. Alex met her eyes for a split-second and sighed, Kara could already sense she was holding back.

"Lena and her associate says they're satisfied, but J'onn's reluctant. He says one involuntary twitch of my trigger finger at the wrong time and… well you get the idea," she said.

"It doesn't sound like J'onn not to trust your judgement on something like this," she said.

"Normally I'd agree, but the Guardians of the Universe won't leave us alone. With Mon-El…" A brief flare of burning pain shot into Kara's head, she closed her eyes hard and shook it off. Alex stopped herself after seeing the reaction that name got, but Kara beckoned her to continue.

"With him still missing, the Daxamite issue isn't put to rest. The D.E.O. is under a microscope and J'onn doesn't want to take any risks," Alex finished.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Kara said.

"Yeah well… it's hard on all of us. Pair the constant hounding from the Green lanterns and the fact you're not with us anymore, it's making us an easier target," Alex said, failing to hide the disdain in her voice. Kara took a deep breath and let the ring's reaction pass. She struggled to think of a topic of conversation that was neither too mundane or too inflammatory, it was a gargantuan task to skate that line.

"Well I stopped a guy in Metropolis armed with some sort of Kryptonite gun recently, hopefully that ticks off a problem on the D.E.O.'s list," she said, the ring seemed to squeeze at her finger with the attempts to keep things light.

"Bloodsport. I saw your handiwork. His jaw was hardly attached to his skull," Alex said, raising an eyebrow. Kara said nothing, now was not a good time to mention Bleez. Instead she just cleared her throat again. Alex's eyes narrowed slightly, but she seemed to catch herself.

"But yes, it's good we have him now, he managed to get that gun from raiding one of our trucks, once his jaw heals I can get more info on the other missing equipment." Alex looked around, snatching eye contact and pulling away every so often as she spoke. Eventually she gave up and looked around.

"I don't think I've ever seen this place so messy," she said. Broken lenses were still sitting by her miserable, dead glasses. Various books and failed distractions were strewn around the floor, the symptoms of a restless mind.

"I didn't realise the D.E.O. even had any Kryptonite to steal," Kara said, still trying to push the conversation forward.

"After Superman's encounter with silver Kryptonite he let us into his stash, he said there had to be a contingency if something like that happened again," she said.

"Is that why you tried to weaponize it?" Kara said, she was genuinely intrigued. Alex looked at her in disbelief.

"You think that's the reason we're experimenting with Kryptonite?" Alex said, her annoyance was picked up by the ring.

"I was just asking," Kara said.

"The World Killers, Kara. We're doing everything we can to prepare for them, how could you forget that?" Alex said, her temper was rising. Kara rubbed the bridge of her nose, trying to will away a building headache.

"Right yeah. Well if it'll free you up some time, Lena already looked into Kryptonite. She said its effects on them would be negligible," Kara said. Alex glared at her in disbelief, her expression was hardening.

"What's the problem now?" Kara said, unable to keep her voice calm. Walking this conversational tightrope was wearing at her concentration.

"You or Lena didn't think to share this information? I'm… We're doing everything we can to come up with a defence against them and it just slips your mind?" Alex said, standing up. Kara rose with her.

"Lena doesn't tell me much, says it's for my own sake. Hell, I didn't even know the D.E.O. were experimenting with Kryptonite, why is it such a big deal?" She said. Alex was fuming, Kara's blood began to heat up.

"Because if we find something to fight them then we can get that bloody ring off of you and I'll have my sister back," Alex said, raising her voice. Kara felt the ring's energy excite, she clenched her fists and sucked air in through her teeth.

"I don't want to do this again, Alex," she said slowly.

"Maybe I do, I'm scared for you and you always make out like I'm overreacting," Alex said.

"I don't need your protection. What I need is your support," Kara said, immediately regretting it when she saw Alex's face drop.

"You think I don't care? You keep expecting me to support something that could crush your spirit or kill you?" Alex said. In a flash of red, Kara let out a shout and kicked a stray book across the room. She hit it with such force that she took a chunk of the floor out with it. Even with a soft cover, the wall cracked around the impact. The book bounced off and hit the floor with a light patter, flakes of paint gently drifted down after it. She could not bear to look at Alex, instead breathing heavily and staring at her newly damaged wall. Silence took over the space, only the background noise of the city drifted in. Neither of them moved.

Kara did her best to wind herself down, she hated being like this with her sister. Alex's tenacity was usually inspiring, but her inability to let things be drove this wedge between them that was a nightmare to get over.

"Should I go?" Alex said, it was a surprisingly meek response for how things usually went. Kara released all the air in her lungs through her nose. Through the ring's white noise, she heard Lena's voice telling her that they only want what's best for her.

"No, I don't want to leave things like this… not again," she said. Alex slumped back down to the sofa.

"Why does it have to be like this?" Alex said, staring off into the distance. Kara allowed herself some more time to cool down and the ring's shouts to sink back into the hum. Her back was to Alex, she did not turn when she finally spoke.

"It's hard for all of us, I hate all this waiting around… but it's how things are. We just have to do our best to deal with it," she said.

Kara could hear Alex flexing her mechanical fingers as she fidgeted on the sofa. She turned to her.

"It works both ways, as my older sister I know you've always wanted to look out for me," Kara sat down and took her hands "but I can't let something like this happen to you again. If I'm not strong enough everyone will suffer and that'll be on me."

Alex looked conflicted, still unhappy with the situation. However, the fact they were no longer shouting at each other seemed like a minor victory.

"So what now, we have some tea and pretend none of this is happening?" Alex said.

"If there's anything we've achieved over the past few weeks, it's proving that we're bad at that," Kara said. She picked up the book she had kicked, chuckling slightly as she looked at it.

"What?" Alex said, almost sounding worried. Kara tossed it to her. Alex looked down at it and a small smile came across her face.

"The Little Book of Calm." She said. For a moment, Kara felt a weight on her shoulders, but she ignored it and went over to her kettle.

"The tea is a good start, but I don't want to end up arguing again," Kara said.

"I'll leave if it'll make things easier," Alex said. Kara did not want to admit it to herself, but it was the option she wanted to take most of all.

"No, you just got here." She paused to think, desperately wanting to make this work in some way. "I'll invite Lena round, she might share some other findings with you and distract us from ourselves."

Alex gave a noncommittal grunt, it was all the approval she needed. She sent Lena a message, neglecting to mention Alex's presence. A reply that she would be right over came through quickly. There was a slight lull in the hum in the reassurance Lena was on her way. She looked back to Alex, unsure whether to fill the time between now and Lena's arrival with silence or more uncomfortable small talk.


	14. Clutter

The small bursts of forced conversation had become too much for them both. The T.V. droned on to distract them, her mind was so pre-occupied that she had all but forgotten it existed. It was such an obvious solution that she was irritated not to have thought of it before. Nothing worth watching sprung to mind so it was the news that filled the void. They caught the last 10 minutes of a story about unexplained power-cuts in Metropolis, evidently it was a slow news day as a puff-piece on her uniform took over to waste some air-time. Kara had gone out of her way to pay no attention to the public's take on her change. She was stuck with it as it was, so there was nothing to gain from it and potentially a lot of anger to risk.

"They really do like to talk about you," Alex said.

"They talked a lot about me before, now they just have a better excuse," Kara said, she could barely hear it over the hum in her head but peaked at a poll they had run. She was disappointed to see how many people seemed to prefer the Red Lantern uniform over her classic look, but it was a third option that really caught her eye.

"That's not Supergirl anyway?" she said aloud.

"I'm guessing that's to appease the more paranoid viewers." Alex said. Confusion appeared on her face as Kara shot a baffled look at her, Alex eyed her carefully. "Have you not been keeping up with this sort of thing?"

"Why would I?" Kara said.

"When you first showed up with this new-found power of yours there were a lot of theories floating around, new ones seemed to come in by the day. One of the more popular ones at the time was that it wasn't you at all, bandying about theories that you were a government-controlled clone or an older version of yourself from a parallel universe. They called you Power Girl," she said, finding it difficult to take her explanation seriously. Kara raised an eyebrow.

"Right… I hope that's all died down?" she said.

"You know how it is, passing fancies and short attention spans. For a while there were panels and discussions about "The New Supergirl," but interest faded as you went about your business," Alex said.

"That's a relief I suppose," she said.

"Maybe. A couple of topics persist, your choice of clothing and…" Alex stopped herself. Kara squinted at her.

"Go on." she said. Alex rubbed her forehead. "Out with it." Kara snapped at the words.

"And how you're a lot less friendly," she finished. It sounded a lot like Alex was sugar-coating the situation, Kara pouted as the hum rose up. The sad fact was she tried to do the bare minimum to keep the ring in check. Whoever these people were had no idea how unfriendly she could be if she lost even a small modicum of self-discipline. Alex switched the channel over to some trashy soap. It was for the best, she was right in thinking the media's speculation would just aggravate her. These opinions could be another reason Lena insisted on her taking breaks, although the public eye was never something she mentioned. She either knew to avoid it or did not let such things sway her so easily.

As if on que, there was a light knock at the door.

"That was fast," Alex said, looking at the door in disbelief.

"The perks of a personal driver," Kara said, Lena had an uncanny ability to be everywhere at once. She was reminded of Oddball's comments about how formidable a force Lena was.

Lena greeted her with a wide smile as she walked in before noticing they were not alone.

"Oh, hello Alex," Lena said.

"Did Kara not mention I was here?" Alex said, noting her surprise.

"Sorry, was taken aback a little," Lena said. She placed her bag down on the counter and pulled up a stool by the kitchen area. Alex shot her a funny look. The truth was Lena's attitude toward the D.E.O. had become very cautious over the past month and she did not want to put her off.

"Is the tea still hot?" Lena said, breaking the pause.

"Not really, I can make you some more," Kara said.

"No don't worry about me," she said, swivelling in her stool. "It's been a while since I've seen you in person, I hope the arms are treating you well."

"They continue to amaze me," she said.

"The more people I help, the happier I am, and I do love to keep L-Corp at the forefront of technology and research," she said.

"Isn't that the truth," Alex said, shooting a glance at Kara. Lena was busy taking her coat off and draping it over a stool next to her. Kara leaned on the counter, she could not help but feel more at ease with someone else in the room.

"So, anything planned or are we just here to chat?" Lena said, crossing her legs and looking her usual composed self.

"Kara thought we could use the company," Alex said.

"Well, I'm glad you thought of me," Lena said. Alex took a seat next to her.

"In fact, Kara was just telling me about some research you've done on Kryptonite…"

"Come on Alex, let's not talk about work," Kara did not like Alex's tone or how she just jumped straight into it, however Lena put her hand on Kara's with a smile.

"No, it's quite alright. Yes, I was called upon to dabble with it, nothing came of it," she said.

"Would have been nice to know, don't you think?" Alex said. Kara watched Lena closely, she was tempted to interrupt again but Lena had not even batted an eyelid.

"If I found something significant I'd let you know. I simply didn't want word getting out that a Luthor was messing about with Kryptonite," she said. Kara's eyes flitted between the two of them, she had invited Lena round to calm the tension. She did not need the ring to see that it was rising again.

"The D.E.O. are very discreet," Alex said.

"Even if that's the case, it's an unnecessary risk. Time spent quashing such rumours is time not spent doing something useful," Lena said, never dropping her perky mood. She turned away from the irritated Alex to address Kara, who had placed herself leaning on the kitchen counter.

"But as you say, let's not talk about work. How are you doing Kara?" she said.

"Same as usual, very bad at staying still," Kara said.

"I think that's a trait we all share," Alex said.

"You're not still side-lined from fieldwork, are you?" Lena said. Alex nodded.

"I can send a personal message saying you've got the all clear if you like?" Lena said.

"That's not necessary," she said, hesitating slightly. "Thank you, though."

A loud musical sting from an advert was enough for the T.V. to remind them it was on. Alex went for the remote. With Alex's back turned Lena mouthed "Is everything okay?" to Kara

She gave her a small nod, though she was not sure. The ever-present hum was relatively quiet even with the ring picking up on how tense Alex was. Lena did not look convinced but decided to carry on as normal.

"So, what do the Danvers sisters like to do in their downtime?" she said.

"Feels so long since we had any real downtime, but there's usually junk food when Kara's involved," Alex said, retreating to the sofa. Kara's tongue tingled as she was reminded of such nights, simple times where the taste of blood did not taint everything. A feeling of weakness pressed down on her, she gritted her teeth and focused on pushing it away.

"I'm never sure whether to be impressed or horrified at her ability to put away so many doughnuts," Lena said, smiling as she turned to her. A worried twitch hit the side of Lena's mouth as she noticed her dour expression.

"Sorry, lots of things on my mind," Kara said.

"Have you read any of those meditation books I sent you, can really help you stay centred," Lena said.

"They're probably on the floor somewhere," Alex said.

"Quite. I wasn't sure whether to mention the clutter," Lena said.

"It's fine, I'll be fine," Kara said. As she spoke, Alex's phone started buzzing away. She picked it up.

"It's Winn, do you mind if I…"

"Go ahead, Kara said. Alex kept her voice low and walked away for some privacy. Kara was tempted to listen in, though she was stopped by a concerned Lena.

"Are you really fine, Alex seems… combative," she said. Kara hesitated, she could feel the ring pulsing away at her.

"Things got heated. I didn't want to give up though, it's why I asked you here, I should have warned you," Kara said, slumping down. As always, she was met with a warm smile.

"I'll always be here for you when you need me, even if it means a grilling from your sister," she said.

Kara nodded, another lull in the hum and a weight in her shoulders hit her. She looked away from Lena to focus on the ring, embracing the burning in her blood.

Alex came charging back and reaching for her things.

"I'm sorry to cut this short, some rumours that could involve the World Killers have come to the surface and I need to help follow them up," she gathered everything quickly, but stopped at the door. She was struggling to find her words.

"This was pleasant. I'll see you again soon yeah?" Alex said.

"Yeah," Kara said. Lena waved at her as she went. She rushed out and very quickly it was just the two of them.

"Pleasant. Maybe you didn't need me after all," Lena said, not letting the quiet hang for long.

"We managed to calm ourselves down this time, but everything still feels off. She doesn't understand," Kara said.

"These things can take time, and it sounds like you're making progress," Lena said in a soft tone.

"I don't know," Kara said. She watched Lena stand up and start to clear up some of the mess in the apartment. "You don't have to…"

"I'm here now, I may as well help out," Lena said. Kara reluctantly stood up to lend a hand, she had grown accustomed to the disorderly nature. It did not take long for Lena to come across the dented floor and new crack in the wall. She ran her hand along it, saying nothing.

"How did things go with Oddball?" Lena said, not stopping at her task. She was not sure how to answer, she still could not quite process what he had said to her.

"He said a lot that didn't seem to mean much, yet I can't stop thinking about it," she said. Lena laughed.

"He has that effect. Not sure what came over me to inflict him on you, but it seems to have made some sort of impact," she said.

"Well if anything it burned a night of this wretched break, I still don't get why you keep him around though," Kara said.

"He's resourceful. Someone who comes across as so ridiculous yet can throw thoughts and perspectives your way that you never even considered. It's a rare talent, one that I think can help," she said.

"If he's so resourceful then why has nothing come up on the World Killers?" Kara said.

"It's not exactly a simple task, Kara," Lena said.

"Seems like the D.E.O. have found something, he could be lying to you about how much he knows," she said. Lena had paused as she bent down to pick up another book. She seemed conflicted and her smile dropped for the first time.

"He's definitely not as simple as he claims to be, but he's gone out of his way to help me before it and even if there's a lot I don't understand about him. I trust that what I gain from him is worth the risk," she said.

"I could still look into it, it'll give me something useful to do outside of this." Kara said, holding out her ring finger. "I could also see if there's anything he's missed and double check if anything he says to you is a lie." Lena frowned, she stood back up and gently took her shoulder.

"Please stay away from this, for your own sake," Lena said with sorrow in her eyes.

Kara looked away, she could not shake her suspicion of Oddball and the growing need to take some sort action tugged at her. However, the ring was relatively quiet and having had enough of clashing with Alex she let it be. Instead she brushed off Lena's hand and carried on piling things up neatly. Lena cleared her throat and took it as a sign the subject drop it altogether. With only odds and ends scattered about and no particularly intricate messes, it did not take long to tidy everything away

"There we go," Lena said. The clean apartment felt so small to her, she could feel the ring starting to scratch away.

"I know you're restless, please just take the time away from the fight," she said, able to read the discomfort on her face.

"There are people out there need me and I'm stuck in here," she said.

"You always want to fight for what's right, you put yourself before others." She sighed. "But someone who cares so much for others often forgets that looking after themselves is just as important."

"I can't stay cooped up like this when I have this ability to bring justice to those that need it," Kara said. Lena adjusted her shirt and calmly placed herself back onto her kitchen stool.

"I'll never know what it's like to possess the power you do. I'd love to offer some insight on dealing with that side of it, but all I can offer is the same advice of occupying your mind or finding ways to stay centred." Lena scratched at her chin, it was a rare sight to see her at a loss.

"What?" Kara said, as without warning Lena looked at her with a playful grin.

"I was just thinking of less frustrating ways you can pass the time. You can change your clothes on the fly with that ring of yours, maybe give fashion designing a go," she said.

"Seriously?" Kara said, bemused.

"Why not, the Red Lantern fashion line could be the next big thing," she said.

"Okay, now I know you're messing with me," she said.

"I'm just trying to think outside the box," Lena said. Having Lena around was always a nice change of pace. She wanted to say more to her but found herself holding back. Even in these mundane circumstances, momentary thoughts that strayed too far from the ring's agenda were lost to that endless hum. Instead she had to be content with nothing more than having Lena with her.


	15. Empty

"He did what?" Kara said.

"No word of a lie," Lena said. A couple hours had passed by. Mundane chatter with Lena had been no chore at all.

"Did you even need his help?" she said.

"I didn't ask for it, I didn't even mention it to him, but this was before my business days so I didn't have the connections and influence to do anything," Lena said, swirling the tea in her cup.

"How did you even react to that?" she said.

"Well I was wallowing in the lab, annoyed at the lousy security that failed to protect my research and dreading the prospect of having to start from scratch, when in walks the supposed consultant with my samples and hard-drives. Lex was right behind him with a stern look on his face, practically pushing him toward me. All I could do was sit there dumbfounded as the guy begged for my forgiveness. Within a day Lex had found out my work was stolen, tracked this guy down, got to him and marched him over to my workspace to force him to apologise to me in person," Lena said.

"And he stood behind him the whole time?" Kara asked.

"Arms folded and unblinking. When I'd had enough of the grovelling Lex kicked him out, told me he was impressed with my work and suggested I work for Lex-Corp where the security was much tighter," Lena said.

"I'm surprised the guy was still breathing after Lex found him," she said. Lena looked off out the window, not paying too much attention to what she was seeing.

"My relationship with my brother is a weird one. I used to idolise him, he was always intelligent, charming and fiercely protective. He would take my side when my mother would get particularly nasty, stuff like that. He knew I'd hate it if he actually hurt the guy, it took me a long time to realise he acted that way to try and manipulate me rather than out of genuine affection," Lena said.

"And I thought my sister could be bad," she said.

"Alex does what she does because she loves you, Lex did it because I would have been a useful asset to him. That wasn't the only time he tried to hire me into Lex-Corp and I'm almost certain when he spouted his rhetoric against Superman he was trying to convince me to join his little inner-circle against him," Lena said.

"I dread to think how things would have turned out if you'd said yes," she said. Lena laughed.

"No need to worry, I would practically fall asleep when he talked about "that alien menace." I just wish I'd paid enough attention to realise that Lex was crazy enough to actually take action against your cousin," Lena said.

"I guess it's easy to think that in hindsight," she said.

"True enough," Lena said. Their conversation was winding down, Lena glanced at her watch.

"I'm not keeping you here am I?" Kara said, concerned about how much of Lena's time she had taken.

"It's no problem, if anything you've forced me to take my own advice of slowing down and taking a break," Lena said.

"Your work's important, I shouldn't keep you away from it," she said. Lena put her cup down and looked into her eyes for a few moments. She got up quickly afterward.

"If you need me at any point…," Lena said.

"I know," she said.

"Bye Kara."

She watched her leave, no doubt calling her driver to jump right back into one of her many projects.

The mild hum started to grow as she looked back to her empty apartment. The space looked a lot bigger without the mess around anymore. The damage from the book missile would no doubt take a hefty chunk out of her deposit. It reminded her of her young days, struggling to control her strength and nearly wrecking half the Danvers' household whenever she had a tantrum. Anger was practically a luxury back then. She knew it would only be a matter of time before her clarity of thought would begin to get muddied again. Lena's stories about her family and Lex served to remind her how much worse a position she could be in. Up until now she had been very reactive, only seeing the people Lena told her to see. Her relationship with Alex had mildly improved and with a relatively rage-free state of mind, she thought about Kal. She had mostly avoided him after what happened with Sam. Hearing from Lena about how depraved Lex could be was enough to get her blood boiling and the ring's voice calling for swift justice. Kal had every right to be angry or to lash out, but the mere thought of acting that way always seemed so farfetched to him. Working through their issues and hearing what he had to say could be the salve she needed. He also had to grow up with his power without anyone experienced to turn too, the struggle of having so much power and being in a position where she could not always use it was a problem that had rekindled itself. It was a position only Kal could sympathise with.

It was an avenue worth exploring, the ring still giving her so much trouble made it seem like there would be no easy solution. However, there was no harm in checking in with him. A quick flight to Metropolis to see if he was free would take no time at all. She made the decision to head out, knowing the longer she debated it, the more she would talk herself out of it. Either that or the ring would start drilling into her thoughts once more, throwing the unstoppable urges for violence her way. She stopped in her tracks before leaving, looking down at her clothes. An image of a dress started to form in her mind, red of course, maybe a bit vintage. Something a little chic, vertical stripes at the top. She looked at her ring, knowing she could form it with ease. For a moment the hum hushed slightly and her arms felt heavy. She cast the dress from her mind and promptly changed to her usual stylings.

Her flight seemed weighed down, taking several minutes to get to Metropolis instead of blazing into its skyline within a few seconds. The ring's power fluctuated much less than when she first got it, but from time to time it could still play up on her. Landing turned out to be easy as Clark's building's roof was clear. Her footsteps echoed in the stairwell, it was unclear how turning up unannounced would fly with him. Hopefully he would appreciate the gesture, the one certainty is he would want to help her regardless of how he felt about anything else. She sped up, trying to stop overthinking as she wound down each flight. She stared at the door, her fingers were twitching as she mustered the will to knock. She reminded herself it was all her own doing, the drive for a positive step came through as she tapped at it. Light footsteps made their way over. The door loudly unlatched and Lois was revealed to her.

"Hi there Kara, I wasn't expecting you," she said, she seemed apprehensive despite her smile.

"Sorry to drop by like this, is Clark in?" she said. Lois quickly glanced back into the apartment.

"He's working," Lois said. Kara squinted, trying to work out if she meant if it was work that involved a cape.

"Will he be back soon? I can wait," she said.

"Now may not be the best time," Lois said. Her reluctance started to make sense when she spotted a child walk across to their kitchen. The child stopped to watch this scene unfold, cocking her head with a curious look on her face. Lois quickly noticed her.

"Maybe you should just come in," Lois said, stepping aside. The child went about her business, disappearing into the kitchen.

"Babysitting for someone?" Kara asked.

"You could say that." Lois' eyes glanced over to the kitchen door. Her nervousness dropped slightly as she led her through to the lounge area. "So, what brings you to Metropolis?"  
"I wanted to see Clark, things have been a little tense at home and I thought it would be good to hear from him," she said. Picking her words was tricky having to stay vague enough in case this child overheard anything. Whilst she imagined Lois knew the details of Kara's complicated circumstances, there was no way of knowing how deeply Clark had gone into it with her. In her few dealings with him, her current condition was a topic the usually confident man never really knew how to approach.

"I think he'd like that," Lois said. Her eyes kept drawing to the kitchen door, the child was now peaking round the doorway with a glass of water in her hand. Lois still seemed distracted and with a pained expression and a bit of hesitation she spoke up.

"Don't be rude now, come in if you want to say hello" she said. The girl was slightly startled and sheepishly shuffled in. "This is Kara, she's Clark's cousin."

"Hi," the girl said. Her posture was strangely upright for how shyly she had entered. She was young and had long, brunette hair. "I'm Ruby."

Kara furrowed her brow. The name was somehow familiar but who this girl was did not quite click.

"Hi Ruby, nice to meet you," Kara said, she mustered a smile despite her conflicting thoughts. Lois seemed at a loss for words, it was something she did not know Lois was capable of. Unsure of how to react to the situation developing in front of her, she started to think she was missing something.

"Are you staying long?" Ruby said, rapidly shaking off her initial sheepishness.

"I'm waiting for Clark, but I'd be fine hanging around some more," Kara said, doing an impression of her old self in an attempt to be more upbeat for the curious child.

After a short silence, Ruby piped up again.

"Do you want to see my room?" Her confidence was growing rapidly, and Kara's smile became genuine at this child's enthusiasm to host her.

"Okay then," she said, standing up.

"I don't know if that's…" Lois said. She stopped herself when she got confused looks from both Ruby and Kara. "Just don't keep her too long, Kara is a busy woman." Lois shot a worried look at her, only further adding to the thought she was missing something obvious.

Ruby lead her into the room, it was surprisingly orderly, only a few messily stacked books on a small desk was totally out of place. It seemed like she had been settled here for a while.

"How long have you been staying here, Ruby?" Kara said.

"About a month now," her demeanour seemed to drop a bit.

"Sorry, I haven't spoken to Clark in a while," she paused, as the ring buzzed away in her mind it seemed to drain any ability she had to talk to a child. Ruby shook it off and proudly presented what she was reading, along with the few decorations she had picked out for the place. Kara was taken aback by the Lava-lamp at the side of her bed. It had been a long time since she had seen, Ruby was enchanted with the blobs of gel merrily floating around for a moment.

"You've certainly made this place your own," she said, spotting a small poster of Superman near the desk. It was odd to see, as Kal hated merchandise based around him and he would have protested one up in his own home.

"Big fan of Superman?" She said, studying it. It was slightly cartoonish with that standing triumphant pose he enjoyed pulling off every now and then. Ruby sat down at her desk, she started fiddling with a pencil and looking at the poster too.

"Do you know much about him?" Ruby said.

"A reasonable amount," Kara said, the fact the poster was up at all meant she did not know Clark's real identity.

"I've always been a fan of Superheroes. Clark doesn't speak much about him but I'm pretty sure he knows him," she said. Kara looked around the room.

"How'd you end up with Clark and Lois?" it was mostly an attempt to deflect the conversation away from the topic, though she was also genuinely curious. Clark had not mentioned any of this to her.

"They're friends of my Mum's old boss," Ruby hesitated, her voice had cracked a bit.

"It's okay," Kara said.

"My Mum's been sick, Clark and Lois have been looking after me," she said. As the words slowly processed in her brain the situation she had got herself into had dawned on her. The timing of Ruby's stay, Clark not mentioning it and Lois' apprehension came crashing into one horrendous recollection, Reign muttering the word "Ruby." Lena had largely kept quiet about everything to do with the World Killers but she had heard enough to piece things together. She was standing in the room of Sam Arias' daughter. She did not react, but the fight with Reign played in her mind. There was a flair from the ring as she pictured her brutal attack on Reign and heard the pained struggle she went through when she lost her arm. She hated going back to it, it was so clear in her mind. As she stood in the room and made polite conversation with the daughter of the woman she had done so much harm to, the worst of it was how little it affected her. Shortly after the incident she felt euphoria, then extreme remorse. But now she had spent time fighting with the ring, there was only numbness to the memory. She could look into the eyes of this girl and feel no guilt about what she had done. The ring's euphoric influence at the recollection of that night with Reign made itself known, Kara always did her best to push it away but some of that positive feeling crept through. It was something she never really wanted to address and avoided conversation about it, even with Lena.

Though the memory was so clear in her head and the complete lack of guilt was irking her, she did not skip a beat as she spoke again.

"Well I'm sure your Mum is under the best care possible,"

"She is," Ruby said, looking at the poster. "And Clark and Lois have been really nice."

"They're good people," Kara said. She put her hand on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby gave her a slight smile, but all Kara could think of was that emptiness toward her mother's plight whilst the ring merrily pulsed away at the memory.


	16. Drain

She had spent a few minutes getting to know Ruby better with Lois popping in to check on them every now and then. She was a bright girl, Kara was surprised to learn how much Lena had been helping with school work. Ruby came across as conscientious and hard-working. From what she could see Sam had done a good job raising her, which was little comfort for her. She selfishly kept hoping for a pang of guilt or remorse to make itself known. Even wanting to give the ring a reason to react badly to her, but it never came.

Eventually Kara left her be. Ruby wanted to stay put and go back to the book she was reading before Kara unintentionally interrupted. She was met with an apprehensive looking Lois, sitting upright on the sofa.

"She's a good kid," Kara said, taking a seat next to her. Lois ignored her.

"Look, you're always welcome here, that goes without saying. But now probably isn't the best time," Lois said in a hushed tone. Kara looked over to Ruby's door, she was right, being around Sam's child felt inappropriate.

"I just want to see Clark, even if it's only a few minutes," she said. Lois took another look at Ruby's door, she kept her voice quiet.

"There was another power cut, biggest one yet, he's over there helping," Lois said. Kara stood up.

"Where's this power cut centred?" She said.

"Clark went over to help co-ordinate and try and keep the situation calm. His presence has a way of calming people down," Lois said. Kara's eye's narrowed and a pulse from the ring rippled up her arm. Lois sat firm with a stern expression.

"You do a lot of good, Kara, but you can't deny there are people out there who a terrified of what you've become." Kara wordlessly grabbed the TV remote and switched it on over to the news, she had no intention of starting an argument. The words "Power cut reaches Metropolis General Hospital," sat in a breaking news banner. She left, he would need help and nothing Lois would say could stop her.

"Kara…" Lois said and she reached out for her. Kara turned and shot an angry look her way, her eye twitched and her teeth gritted. Lois quickly let go and backed off. Loudly inhaling through her teeth, Kara walked out. Even if people feared her, they needed help. Her mind felt foggy and she pushed any dissenting thoughts away. The door slammed behind her and the red uniform materialised around her body.

The relative sluggishness she experienced on the way over had only worn off slightly. The ring was doing very little in aiding her instincts, relying on her sense of direction to get here she needed. Not knowing Metropolis particularly well, she allowed herself to think of how Kal had treated her lately. Throwing her to the wolves on Oa and doing his best to distance himself from her since she got the ring. Forgoing rational thought on the matter, if only for a moment. It let the ring home in on his position at an intersection, further downtown. It was all she needed, she shot over to him. The city blurred beneath her, the speed at which she arrived shocked some of the bystanders and the inertia knocked some of them over. The gasps and slight ruckus caused from her arrival got Superman's attention very quickly.

"Ah, Supergirl. Thank you for the fly-by but everything's under control. Just a few accidents from the traffic lights going out," he said, helping up some of the people she had knocked over. He also put on that irritating noble tone of his that he used in public.

"The power cut is expanding in area somehow, the general Hospital just got hit," she said flatly. He considered this for a moment.

"That'll be top priority then, I'll finish up here first and head over. They'll have procedures for this sort of thing but I'll make sure to get over there quickly,"

She tried to ignore the civilians who were slowly backing away from her but could not herself stop scowling at the few who were getting their phones out. Some looked confused as they fiddled with them.

"What?" Kara said sharply. The woman she had directed this at was startled and looked to Superman.

"It's alright," he said, immediately putting the woman at ease. Kara rolled her eyes

"It's nothing, really," she said.

"Spit it out," Kara said, in the back of her mind she knew she was only proving Lois right, but did not care enough to do anything about it.

"It's just… my phone was on full charge when I left and it's already down to 30%" Superman's eye's widened.

"You, fiddling with your phone," she pointed at another man. "Mine isn't turning on at all."

"Doubt it's a coincidence. The batteries are draining too," Kara said.

"It's never effected anything outside the mains before." A worried look appeared on his face, "The Hospital's backup generators…," Without hesitation they both shot into the sky.

"Lead the way," she said.

Kal's flight-speed felt frustratingly slow even with the ring playing up on her. When the hospital came in sight she thundered past him, landing hard at the hospital entrance. In her haste she had misjudged her deceleration slightly, causing cracks in the concrete where she landed.

"Bring me someone who's in charge," she said striding into the reception area. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked toward her, apart from a few nervous expressions no-one reacted to her.

"Time's a factor here," she said. A couple of nurses looked at each other.

"Errr… right away" he said, scurrying out of the room. Superman walked in behind her, immediately reading the room.

"No need to be alarmed," he said, slyly throwing an annoyed look at her in the process. He walked over to her.

"We don't want to put people on edge. I know the chief of medicine here, he'll know the best course of action." She reluctantly grunted in acknowledgement. The nurse returned quickly with someone in tow. His tag revealed it was the Chief of Medicine, he smiled at Superman.

"Hi there, the lights may be off, and we could certainly use a hand here or there, but I'd say everything is largely under control," he said. Superman walked up and shook his hand, before leaning and speaking quietly

"Is there somewhere quieter we can talk," he said. A more worried expression emerged on his face as he led them through to an empty patient's room.

"Is there a problem?" He said.

"Time may be an issue, so I'll cut to the chase. Further into the area affected by this power cut, phone batteries were draining fast. Have you had any issues with your back-up power," Superman said. The mere suggestion sent the Chief into deep thought.

"If there were a problem I would have been told by now, but if it's a possibility we could be in a lot of trouble," he said, running his hands through his hair. "The I.C.U. will be effected most, and there are surgeons operating as we speak."

"Can we move them off-site?" Superman said.

"Traffic is grid-locked. Are you one-hundred percent certain this is going to be an issue?" He said.

"It's a risk we can't take, Supergirl and I could take patients off-site one by one," Superman said. The chief shook his head.

"That won't work, you move too fast. The people that need moving are in fragile states at best so couldn't take the strain and it's not like we can just stitch up the patients in surgery…" as if on cue the door burst open. A panicked woman in a hard hat was puffing.

"Sorry to interrupt. I tried paging, but they aren't working." Kara exchanged a look with Superman and the Chief, knowing what was coming next.

"The generators are fluctuating, we thought it was just an error in the monitors at first but at this rate the hospital will be dead in the water very soon. What do we do?" She said.

"All power? Even the diesel powered…" he said.

"Everything is draining," she said. The Chief stood completely still for a few seconds, before slumping down on to the bed.

"No transportation, power and gridlocked streets… hundreds of people…" he looked truly defeated.

The room was deflated and silent, whilst the other three were simply at a loss for words, Kara was staring at her ring. All this time in the blackout zone and her ring remained largely unaffected apart from her own hang-ups. She activated shielding around herself just to be sure, it worked without a hitch.

"This is still working, seems to be immune," she said, her heart's beat was getting louder. The pounding drummed away "I'll find the source of this power cut and stop it."

"That could take too long, we need to protect the Hospital," Superman said.

"From what? I hunt down whatever's causing this and the problem ends," she said.

"We don't even know what's causing this, you don't have time," he said. She started breathing heavily as the ring burned through her body, calling for blood.

"It's a someone, not a something. I can feel it," she said. The ring guided this instinct, she was certain of it even without proof or reason.

"Now's not the time for fighting, Doctor, I assume your backup systems are largely on site," He said.

"That's… yes," the Chief said. Kara was finding it difficult to concentrate on the room as the booming grew louder and faster. The taste of blood seeped its way onto her tongue.

"Use that shielding of yours on the hospital, it could protect the everything inside," he said.

"I can't stay here forever, whatever's doing this needs to be put down," she said, snarling through the sentence and squaring up to Superman.

"These blackouts have never lasted longer than a few hours. You can chase it up after we know everyone's safe," he said. She clenched her fists, the temptation to take a swing at Kal and fly toward whatever the ring wanted to guide her too was prominent in her mind. She inhaled, weighing everything up in her head and wanting so much to give in to the allure of violence. The split-second it took to make the decision felt like a lifetime. Every essence of her being was leaning toward telling Kal to go to hell, but the lingering memory of why she was here in the first place danced away in at the back of her head. The talk about Lex and how Kal always had the best for people in mind, to bear no grudges and to protect people above all else. It was just enough to deny the ring of what it was calling for her to do.

Her hands went limp and she exhaled slowly.

"I don't know if the shielding will work, but it's our best bet," she turned to the chief.

"Once it's up no-one will be able to get in or out, make sure everyone is where they need to be. Do it quickly. The shield will be life-supporting, air won't be an issue. I'll stay at ground level, if it isn't working or there are any emergencies you tell me immediately.

"I'll get right on it," the Chief said, re-energised by even this small glimmer of hope.

"I'll be at the entrance, the moment the Hospital is ready you tell me," she said, walking out. Kal joined her. The building was huge, she had never attempted a construct so large. She glanced over to Kal, hovering by her side. He said nothing, but he gave her a nod of approval. Having pushed away the ring's will and letting her rage subside, that familiar heavy feeling weighed her down. Being out of sync with the ring had been vital for her to make the right choice, but fear and doubt crept in to replace them. In a weakened state and such a daunting task, she did not know if she had it in her to carry this plan through.


	17. Embrace

All the horrors and dangers she had thrown herself at head first seemed to pale in comparison to a simple building. She watched the people rushing back and forth around her, staff running and shouting from afar in attempts to save just a few more seconds before the hospital was ready. This entire plan hinged on her ability to do this, possibly for hours. On top of it all there was no guarantee it would work. Superman was no longer at her side, he had been called in to move equipment and anyone who can handle the high-speeds. It was just her, the ring and the hospital. The ever-present hum was quieter than she liked. She spent so much time resenting it, now she missed that numbness it helped bring.

She had come face to face with the daughter of someone she had hurt so badly and felt nothing, however opting to defend instead of attack had sent her spiralling. Even after a decent amount time with the ring it was times like this that served as a harsh reminder how fundamentally broken she was with it. With nothing else to do other than wait for a signal, she dwelled on what it all meant. Oddball's insistence that even the least trustworthy of sources can benefit everyone and Lena's determination to remind her to go easy on herself. The ring threw everything out of whack, even her own simple thought processes. Being lost and confused was the best she could hope for, she would have to rely on those she knew or work around it. The desperate shouts and frantic movements around her made her wander if anyone really knew what was going on. Even the determined gusts of Superman zipping past her had an uneasy feel to them as it blew her hair back each time. She focused on her breathing and the pump of her heart as everything slowed down. She could feel the apprehension in the air as Superman finally came to a stop beside her.

"They're as ready as they can be," he said. Kara rolled her shoulders and stretched out her arms. She brought the ring close to her mouth.

"Work for me, not against me, just this once" she muttered under her breath. She was not even sure the ring comprehended speech on that level, she hoped it's seemingly bestial will would understand the sentiment behind it at least. Sniffing loudly and outstretching her ring hand, she clenched her fist and pointed it at the hospital. With a short and determined breath a beam shot out from the ring. A low droning sound emanated from the point of impact and the red glow engulfed the space around it. Audible gasps and confusion broke out around her, there had been no time to tell everyone the plan. The red wave advanced onward, bending around every nook and cranny of the hospital's exterior. A mild burning pain in her hand grew with the shielding, every inch of its expansion was making itself felt. She looked up to see it stretching to the roof and could sense it going over the top, encircling everything it could. A majority of the hospital had been covered and a crowd had formed around her, taking in the spectacle of it all.

The shield still had some travelling to do, it was slowing down and the toll it was taking on her was increasing rapidly. Superman lightly touched her shoulder, she instinctively shoved him away with her free hand then grabbed her wrist to support her outstretched fist. The final stretch of uncovered space rapidly closed, the hospital was fully shielded. The beam held firm and the warm red glow tinted the air around it. Superman had backed off, starting to understand that support was not what she needed, it was something else entirely. This was only the beginning.

The minutes passed by as the shimmering red forcefield droned on. Before long someone appeared at the front door, attempting to get her attention. Superman had taken up the role of interreference as questions and comments from bystanders had come flying her way. She had fazed them out amongst the hum in her head, focusing everything she had in maintaining the shield. Superman came over to her.

"It's working, the generator's readings have levelled out and powering everything normally," he said. It was of little comfort, a part of her she tried ignoring hoped that this plan would fail. Chasing down whatever caused this would be so much easier, that brief stint of extreme rage and knowing what it was had passed too quickly to get a true hold of it. Instead she was rooted to the spot. Every minute that went by was agonising, her body shuddered as the burning pain spread. She tensed in her stance and the ground crumbled around her feet, the cracks slowly branching out around her. She could feel herself wavering as the ring fought back. The brilliant red began to flicker ever so slightly. There was no adrenaline or rush of fighting to keep the ring's will satiated.

"Not now, come on," she said to herself as the beam from her ring flickered further. It made no difference, she knew maintaining the shield like this would be impossible. She was fully aware of how to strengthen her bond with the ring and could not count on the blackout suddenly subsiding. It had been nowhere near long enough. At this point there was no choice, she would have to embrace the rage it thrived on. Let in the feelings she tried so hard to control and suppress. She yelled out as she let her mind go to these dark corners. The beam solidified stronger than before, the droning from the shield loudened.

The burden was always hers, it was so clear to see as she struggled on with the shield as Superman just watched. Just like Daxam he had left her with the hard work. She took the responsibility of the whole world at every turn, but Superman was the one they all loved. She was cowered from and doubted all because she had the guts to act. The ring flared up, blasting a second beam onto the hospital. It lightened the physical burden on her. The pain burning through her body still refused to subside, instead she could embrace it more and allowed it to fuel her. Grasping onto her resentment had given her a second wind and she stood firm shielding the hospital from whatever was happening. More time passed and there was no hint of the power cut letting up, if anything she could sense it getting stronger. Some unknown force tugging and testing at the edges of the hospital. She had to give more to the ring as this force slowly grew crushingly powerful. Tapping into her rage was all too easy.

She thought of Daxam, how their slaughter of innocents forced her hand into extreme action. She doubted her own morality, had to give up on the man she had loved and pushed Lena away. All of that and they had the nerve to say she was in the wrong, summoned to those clueless and inflexible Guardians on Oa who insisted on questioning her motives at every turn. Consistent punishment for the good deeds and sacrifices she had to make. Her resolve strengthened by Tapping into this part of herself, but it was only slowing the shield's inevitable collapse.

"Other areas of the blackout are starting to light up again, it can't be much longer," someone said. She was so wrapped up in her own head she could not even tell who had said it. Whatever this force was refused to relent. Somehow it continued to get worse, every inch of the shield was under extreme pressure and there was no-one else to rely on to maintain it. She took a step forward and thought of Alex. That moment when she lost her arms, she was reminded every time she saw her. Those replacements she had to settle for, it was her own fault for not being strong enough. She took another step and gritted her teeth. Her fist outshone the daylight itself as it blazed a new beam. After everything she had done, facing the court of the Guardians and ending Reign. Her only thanks was to be left with the ring and see almost every relationship she had crumble around her for it. It was not fair, none of it was. All she wanted was for things to go back to normal, but threat of the World Killers lingered on and all she could do was hang around in this purgatory of perpetual agony. She could taste blood flooding into her mouth as she stepped forward again. Power was radiating off her and she could sense that crushing force on the shield subsiding. She plunged her burning fist into the shielding itself. With a brilliant flash of red the shield burst out, breaking away the force on it. The people watching and even Superman would have no idea of what she went through to get to this point, they all knew so little of her struggle. All they did was take advantage of the outcomes then blame her when there were consequences. She held her hand inside shield, her hand hissed in searing pain as she brought it's form back to surrounding the hospital. She closed her eyes, breathing heavily and dropping her shoulders. The fury she had embraced to get to this point was racing around her mind, her heart was booming louder than ever before as her mind flipped between each forbidden thought. Mon-El, Alex, Kal, Lena. So much was broken and the raw energy it was providing her was almost paralysing. She dropped the shield, it was over.

Her hand was drenched in blood and partially melted, little of it remained except for her palm, ring-finger and thumb. Superman and a few others came to check on her. All her anger and ring's encouragement of it brought her to breaking point and she let out a bellowing, incoherent yell. It shattered windows and doors for hundreds of feet around. Everyone left in the block immediately covered their ears in shock as it thundered throughout the city. Her whole body trembled and her eyes widened. She shot up into the air at full force, breaking the ground into a small crater as she took off. She was on the brink of losing control. It was unsafe for anyone to be around her and there was no way of calming herself down quickly enough. Whenever she tried to clear her mind, new fury found its way into her heart.


	18. Honesty

She floated just outside the Earth's atmosphere, it seemed like the best place to stay. She had let herself simmer down, though had no idea how long it had taken to get back to even a vaguely coherent state of mind. The ring was still shining bright, high off the power it had been fed. Lingering thoughts floated as freely as she did. She hoped everything that went through her head was the ring's influence and not how she really saw it all. Hope was all she had as even after allowing herself some time, the resentment remained. Even though it seemed wrong, blaming the universe and most of the people she was close too was the recurring conclusion.

She looked down on the planet, it was her duty to protect it. All this personal sacrifice and it just keeps turning without a care. She rubbed her face, after everything she did not even get the chance to talk to Kal. Not knowing what to do she remained idle, telling herself she needed more time to recover from the ordeal. The hum had died down significantly, if anything the ring would at least be satisfied for a while. The chance to take that break Lena kept insisting on might be a real possibility.

"What in death's name happened to your hand?" A voice sounded off next to her. She looked down at it, she had already forgotten half of it had melted away. Fortunately, in space the smell of her charred flesh did not carry through and it was already reforming. Despite the speed of the healing, it was vulgar to look at. She turned to the red glow and beauty of Bleez, she had been so wrapped up in her own head that she had not noticed her coming.

"How'd you find me?" Kara said, almost welcoming the unexpected interruption. Bleez chuckled and stretched out her wings.

"My darling, you may not have noticed but the rage coming from here was so strong that I could pick up on it from half a sector away. If it weren't so fleeting I'd have thought Atrocitus himself was here," Bleez said.

"Well, he isn't, and I've calmed down," she said. Bleez looked confused, the statement seemed to make no sense to her.

"So…" Bleez said.

"I don't want to talk about it any further," she said, more forcefully than she had intended.

"Message received, I simply came by to see what my ring picked up on. I think someone more sensible than I would have gone the opposite direction, mind," Bleez said. She joined her in looking down at the planet. "I take it you're rather fond of it."

"What's it to you?" she said.

"Curious my dear, nothing more," Bleez' ring glimmered as she spoke. "I can get out of your hair if you wish. Kara said nothing and continued to stare at the Earth. The lights on the dark side danced out into the inky blackness around them.

"As I don't have a whole lot more to say and I haven't run into many more Red Lanterns before whatever your outburst was, I guess I'll get back to the whole scoping them out thing," Bleez said, she fluttered around her a few times before looking to head off.

"Wait," Kara said, snapping her gaze away from the planet.

"Something to say to me now, I'm all ears," Bleez said. Her unending flirtatious tone was surprisingly soothing.

"Is this what being a Red Lantern is? A constant fight to control ourselves, living with that urge to lash out at anyone the ring deems deserving," she said. Bleez seemed surprised by the question and considered it for a moment.

"I must admit, until I met you I would have laughed at that description," Bleez said.

"Why's that?" she said.

"Whilst I'm better than most, the notion of control for us has never been part of the equation. We act on our ring's will until it's done, slaves to it. You however, seem to be equal to it. Able to calm yourself down and go against it without it giving up to find a new host," Bleez said. Kara nodded, though she was unsure what to make of her perspective.

"I know why I have this thing, I know I hate this thing," she said fiddling with it on what was left of her hand. "You seem so content with yours." Bleez gave a small nod and seemed to be thinking hard on the statement.

"I greatly enjoyed my life before the Corps, but there was a turning point…" Kara sensed a strong welling up of anger inside Bleez.

"Let it pass," she said. Bleez was confused again, looking down at her ring and back to her. Her intense look dropped to a sullen expression, it was as if she had never encountered such simple advice.

"I'll just say the ring came to me when I needed it most and gave me the power to stop the injustice being done to me. Now I do the same for many others, or I can avenge those who weren't as lucky as I was, the ones who don't get to be saved," Bleez said.

"Is that what being a Red Lantern is to you, a vessel of revenge with no process or questioning?" Kara said.

"We're often painted as insane or evil because the rings choose such extreme methods and burn away at our own free will at times, but I've never killed anyone who hasn't deserved it. The innocent are safe from us, that seems to be the part most people forget," she said.

"Innocence..." Kara cut herself off, wandering what exactly that meant. How much innocence did Sam have when she became Reign. How innocent was she when she forced the Daxamites away. The absolute judgement of the Red Lanterns seemed far too broad for situations with no clear right answer. "You don't question what you do and how you do it?"

"Until you, my dear, I didn't even know it was an option," she said. Kara could not help but smile statement. It was unexcepted, but welcome.

"Thank you, Bleez, for talking about this with me," Kara said. Bleez seemed peculiarly flustered by the gratitude.

"I… Er… you're welcome?" dropping that tone of hers. Kara laughed at her.

"I appreciate what you have to say, is it so difficult to accept gratitude," she said. Bleez seemed to have no idea where to look.

"You really are the polar opposite of Atrocitus," Bleez said, uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"I've kept you long enough, but please come back soon," she said.

"I will. It was good to talk, Supergirl," Bleez said, hesistating as she spoke. Intentionally or not, Bleez dropped her habit of showy flight as she went back out into the stars.

Kara pouted at the planet, her mind had cleared for the most part and even just the small snippet from Bleez had given her a lot to think about. Feeling introspective, she remembered why she came to Metropolis in the first place. She floated back down through the atmosphere and Metropolis grew from a speck to a city as she sped through the sky. Not too far beneath the sky-line Kal came to her.

"Are you okay? What happened?" he said, genuine concern on his face.

"I needed to be… angry for a bit. Did I miss anything?" she said.

"Not much, just clean-up here and there. Unfortunately, that shout of yours burst a few ear-drums, no permanent damage from what I gathered," he said.

"Is this the part where you tell me what I did was wrong," she said, catching herself and realising maybe she was a lot less calm than she originally thought.

"Not at all, you just did a great thing. Even turned down a chance at a fight." He struggled to make eye contact and was notably uncomfortable. "I think we both know I'm handling this whole Red Lantern thing poorly. I'm doing my best…"

"It's fine," she said. There was a moment of silence between them, Kal tried to regain his composure.

"Lena and I talk, you know. She told me you're supposed to be taking a break," he said.

"Did she now?" she said.

"I trust you, Kara. But Lena has a point, holding onto that much anger for so long will take its toll," he said.

"Like you'd know," she said.

"I have had my own struggles, Kara. We all do, it doesn't make us bad people," he said.

"Doesn't look like it. You're so relentlessly positive and forgiving. I've become something you can barely understand. I've done things that go against everything you believe, but here you are doing what you can to encourage me," she said.

"It's who I am, who I have to be. People are so willing to focus on the bad that it can drown out those who can forgive. Sometimes one person's kindness is all it takes to turn a life around," he said. She wished it was a sentiment she could get behind, that a switch could just be flipped and all her doubts would disappear.

"You never lapse. Never get tired or just want to give up and accept that some people can't be helped," she said. Kal chuckled.

"Never is a very strong word, as I said, I've had struggles. I may not show it, but I have my troubles every now and then. It's those times where I look to the people I love to support me. I may not understand everything you do, but you're on the right path. Alex and Lena can keep you grounded, and whilst it's something I admit I've avoided and failed at. I can be here for you as well should you need it," he said. Kara raised an eyebrow.

"Is that something you actually want?" She said. Kal laughed again.

"Am I that obvious? What you've become confuses me, but I know your reasons are just. And should you want me to, I'll do everything I can to understand and support you," he said. Kara sighed.

"I want to hate you sometimes, I really do. You're so sickeningly perfect, but I just can't bring myself to do it," she said.

"I think that was a compliment, though I assure you I am far from perfect. You've seen that yourself multiple times," he said, she remained sceptical.

"You're looking after the child of someone you never knew, separated from her mother because of something I did. You never even mentioned it, didn't look for praise or recognition. It's just what you do. The right thing without question," she said. He looked away from her.

"You met Ruby then," he said.

"She seems to be a fan of yours," she said, knowing it would make him uncomfortable.

"You say I don't have struggles, but every time I look at that girl I'm reminded how I failed her mother. I couldn't protect her, I was helpless…" he said. She heard no blame in his tone, only sadness. That had been her intention at the time, the ring's burning desire to get back at him forcing her barbaric nature. Kal began speaking again before she could muster the will to argue.

"But I also failed you. Instead of trying to reach you, I stood by and watched. I let it happen because I was lost. If I was so perfect I would have known what to do. If I were so perfect I would have recognised what I had been driving you toward and done right by you," he said. She wanted to tell him not to blame himself and that the fault was solely hers, but her words would have been insincere. Everything she had done and Kal was blaming himself. The answers she sought would not come from him, his view was too pure. Being so whole-heartedly good was his nature and lacked the comprehension of where her anger stemmed. There was more to say, though neither of them spoke. She watched the clouds go by and let the long silence between them fester until a pang of guilt forced her hand.

"I came to Metropolis for you, Kal. It's because it's what you're the best at. Don't forget, don't doubt." She broke the silence suddenly, instinctively saying it before she could give it much thought. A smile curled up on the side of his mouth.

"Maybe not the best, it wasn't me that saved the hospital," he said.

"I didn't mean the powers or the whole saving the day schtick. It's your words and attitude that carry through just as much, all this power yet you can do so much without the cape," she said. Kal cocked his head.

"Superman and Supergirl can do amazing things, so can Clark Kent and Kara Danvers," he said.

"I don't think I know what Kara Danvers is any more," she said, the ring twinkled.

"Maybe it's time to find her again, you told me that the power cuts was a someone and not a something. Dust off the old notepad and do some good old-fashioned investigation, no ring, no powers," he said. She responded with a non-committal grunt. They stayed for a while longer, watching the city go by. The revs of engines were starting up again. Car horns beeped in the slow traffic and the smell of exhaust rose. Nothing more was said.


	19. Trail

The all too familiar surroundings of her apartment faded to the background. She had a set-up of several notebooks and boards as she thought away at the problem presented before her. The down-side of everything being so tidy was it took away the easiest form of procrastination. Forcing herself to think about the problem directly had gotten her nowhere slowly. Kal was telling the truth when he said there was little to go on. Apart from the dates, times and areas the power cuts hit, he had given her nothing. Too busy with other work and Ruby. She watched as many reports on the matter as she could find, since the beginning it involved a lot of uncomfortable spokespeople paraphrasing how they had no idea what was going on. The general consensus was that there did not seem to be anything wrong or any detectable abnormalities. Something was either being covered up or they genuinely did not know. Going through official means would just give her the same answers as the reports. She had put up a map with all the power cut locations marked down, hoping to find some sort of correlation.

The first instance had happened a few weeks ago. There would have been progress in the story if the regular avenues of investigation had revealed anything. Even just someone saying they had leads that they were pursuing. Faults in the grid itself would be better covered by the regulators and any industrial sabotage would leave a trace for the F.B.I. or police to follow. If there was someone to follow that would not be announced, there was no way to know for sure without calling in a favour or two. It was times like this she resented having to leave the D.E.O. Before, a quick call to Alex or Winn would give her a wealth of extra information to work with. From what she had been told, Hal Jordan was paying very close attention to any D.E.O. activity. It was not too much of a stretch to assume the new Green Lantern was also looking in on everything they did. She huffed at her map, she had hoped for some sort of inspiration but all she got was a bunch of shapes and numbers. In her frustration the ring's hum was creeping back and her heart grew louder, the thumping in her chest made it hard to concentrate at times.

As she stared at the map, the hospital seemed to stare back. Due to how recent it was, the latest area hit was not on there. It would be a productive step to draw it up, but one she had hoped to avoid. It would have saved a lot of time if there had been anything obvious from the information already available. The instinct that a single person was the root cause gnawed away at her as well, she wanted to ignore it. Choosing to forgo logic and reason based on a whim she had when enraged was a dangerous path. Sam was a testament to the consequences of letting the ring lead the way, quietly dismissing the fact that with it she had tracked her down easily from an entirely different planet. Finding herself more tempted by the ring gleaming at her, she decided to get out of the apartment. The map was growing tiresome and a fresh look later might reveal something she missed. Without a proper view on it and being the most recent area effected, she made her way back to Metropolis and the Hospital she had shielded. A perk she still had over most journalists was the ability to travel everywhere at speed and no expense.

She watched the crowds funnel in and out of the hospital. It appeared so much less daunting now, what had been a huge complex of architecture so recently looked like a regular building again. It was the difference that no burden made. The pain in her hand flared ever so slightly standing in the spot where it all happened. It was fully formed once more, though the skin was still severely peeled and rough. It was hard not to scratch at the numerous blisters that cropped up. Having to shield the hospital so heavily suggested whatever caused this was able to focus on this one area, despite having started at a different spot. She was not aware of any regular human technology capable of such feats. Alien technology or a meta-human was the most likely explanation. Livewire sprung to mind, but she could not get her head around any motivation for such seemingly random attacks. She was stuck again. She walked through the city, making sure to stay in the area that was affected in the hope she would spot or be reminded of something she may have dismissed.

It was odd being at ground level, all the time spent looking down at the bustling crowds from on high rather than part of them. No fear, awe or curiosity was sent her way. The only looks she got were when there was surprising amount of resistance to anyone that bumped passed her. She had lost the art of weaving through a crowd, which seemed more necessary than ever in the square and grey streets of Metropolis. There was a warmth to the crowds she stepped with, not just from the mass of bodies but an underlying anger that even the some of the most cheerful looking people contributed toward. She took deep breaths as she bathed in the feint aura it all formed. Every so often she stopped to keep track of where she was going, but for the most part she was aimless. Getting lost in the city's anger, it flooded her senses as she subconsciously walked for hours to soak it all in. Despite the number of people, any direct liveliness was lacking. It was strange as she could sense the emotion so strongly, like it was stroking her skin.

After some time, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened again, blinking several times to adjust to the light once more, her eyes were drawn upward to a power line. Following it felt too simple but with nothing better to do she went along its path. She adjusted her glasses every now and then, tracking the line as it passed over buildings or went underground. She snaked through the city, not entirely sure what instinct she was following now. After a lot more walking she eventually ended up at site with several transformers. After a quick check on her phone's GPS and picture of the black out map, she found she was at the centre of one of the previous power cuts. There was CCTV around, a large fence and most likely a fair amount of security. It seemed unlikely someone would be able to mess with anything without being noticed. She eyed the entrance to the place, wondering whether to saunter in and start asking for things. She stroked her chin, thinking of the best way to approach the problem. She pondered for longer than she realised as a man from behind the fence got her attention.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" He said. He wore a high-vis, but the rest of the uniform was generic security. "You've been standing there a few minutes now." There was a suspicion to his tone.

"Just… thinking," she said.

"Well you can go and think somewhere else," he said. She looked around at all the bright yellow warning and high voltage signs.

"It'd be very dangerous for someone who didn't know what they're doing to break in here, wouldn't it?" She said. The man raised an eyebrow.

"It very much would, I hope you're not getting any stupid ideas," he said. She folded her arms, still looking passed him at the machinery and wiring.

"I'm a reporter. CatCo. Looking into the recent power cuts," she said. The man's stern expression remained.

"There are plenty of people to talk too about that, loitering outside this facility won't get you anywhere," he said. She ignored his tone and reached for a notepad.

"You haven't had any break-ins or unusual activity recently," she said.

"I wouldn't allow any break-ins. Now get lost, I'm not here to talk to journalists," he said. She promptly put away the notebook.

"Off the record then," she said. The guard's patience seemed to be wearing thin. "Unusual activity, anyone in particular acting strangely around a week ago?"

"I'd call unexplained power cuts unusual, and..." It seemed like he was about to say more but stopped himself.

"Get a move on, find someone who gets paid to answer questions like that," he said.

"What were you about to say?" She said.

"Nothing, go away," he said. Whatever he had thought of had him flustered. She wanted to keep pushing, however he was already gone. A quick use of X-ray vision let her see there was a security station. She had got a quick glance at his I.D. badge before he disappeared. Robert Booker, he knew more than he was letting on. He seemed normal enough and even though she had done her best to ignore it, the ring's lack of interest in him suggested it was not something he had done that had him so cagey. Having worked in what was the central location for one of the, albeit, smaller power cuts and working on security meant he may have seen something he did not want to talk about.

CCTV or employee records were off the table, she had no official credentials and had hardly ingratiated herself with security. She moved off, getting her hands on physical evidence or searching further into what was a relatively small facility seemed risky. It would involve calling the D.E.O. or breaking into the place herself. Instead, she kept her hearing tuned into the facility. Picking out Robert's voice from the ambient noise and other voices would be tricky, she would have to concentrate hard and even that was not guaranteed. She looked around for a café or coffee shop she could set herself up in. She glanced back several times as she moved, Robert was on a little patrol route. If he had anything to say it would likely be with whoever else was manning the security station, knowing this, she accelerated to a jog to make sure she could be in place in time. The first cafe that would work for her was further away than she would have liked, it also seemed grungy and she was convinced the hygiene rating it boasted had been generous. She simply ordered a coffee to ignore so she could plant herself on a table outside. She shut herself off to the world, focusing entirely on tracking the movement of Robert. She watched the skeletal figure meander about the place. Whenever it looked like he was finally going back to the security station he veered off to another part of the facility, her jog was a wasted effort at this point. It was hard to tell from this distance and being unable to read any facial expressions, but his movement seemed jumpy and uneasy. After a few more minutes he made his way back. She closed her eyes so she could focus entirely on listening in.

"What was all that about?" another voice chimed up.

"What? Oh nothing." It was Robert's voice.

"I ask you to check on the crazy lady and you wander about for five minutes, I've been watching you on the cameras," the other man said.

"Forget it, alright," Robert said. There was a silence between them, Kara willed on for the other man to follow it up, there had to be something more.

"Whatever man, I know this job gets boring but going walkabouts for no reason might get management on our case." There was only a half-acknowledgement. She was getting a headache from having to concentrate her hearing so specifically. She persisted, wishing for a little bit of luck to come her way.

"It's just… she was a reporter," Robert said.

"So what? We've had police and god knows who else poking around."

"Yeah but they have to explore everything. Why would a reporter specifically stare this place down and then ask me about people acting strangely?" he said.

"You're worrying too much, mate. They've had nothing new on this story for weeks so are just sniffing around wherever they can."

"I dunno, this place is so insignificant. You don't think Jo's unscheduled visit…"

"Rob, Jo saved our arses by fixing whatever the hell happened. I'm getting you a beer after this shift, you really need to relax."

Her eyes burst open and her ears rung as she returned her senses to normal. She had a lead, an unscheduled visit significant enough to spook someone. Who apparently fixed the issue. It was not much to go on, a male or female by the name Jo with technical expertise that was at that site when the power went down. She took a sip of the coffee as a reward for herself and hoped it would soothe her overloaded senses. She grimaced, even the taste of blood failed to drown out how disgusting it was.


	20. Search

The sun had set, she had gone back to her apartment to stare at the map some more. For the first time she was grateful she never slept as she kept grinding away through the night. With a little bit of research, she discovered that all the central points of the blackout zones had been along high voltage lines or transformer facilities similar to the one she visited today. If this was the work of one person, they had access to and knowledge of numerous facilities along the grid. They were also able to move freely without much questioning, otherwise someone would have flagged them as a security risk. The name "Jo" kept ringing around her head. An unscheduled visit that stopped the blackout was so frustratingly vague. Part of her wanted to go back and ask more questions, though she got the feeling the staff would not be very forthcoming.

The blackout zones were spread out across the city, they started out in the sub-urbs and worked their way in. Another thing she had noticed was how the area had gotten bigger each time. The hospital being so heavily focused on threw a spanner in the works, before then it appeared aimless. Spreading from one central point without direction. A fact the reports did disclose was that the power loss was not due to overload or the technology failing, it was inexplicably gone for however long then returned to normal as if nothing had happened each time. She cobbled together a theory from the information she had. The work of one freely moving person, possibly metahuman or alien, was siphoning energy from the grid. Whoever or whatever it was started small, the outskirts of the city in low population areas. Either this person was building up confidence or testing the extent of this power. It was what made the most sense to her, the question remained as to who Jo was and what they had to do with all this. Jo could have been in the wrong place at the wrong time or be responsible for it all, there was no way to tell apart from finding them.

She lay back on the sofa, allowing theories to crop to mind. The clock had just hit 4am, it was too early to call or follow-up on her thoughts with anyone. It scrunched as she shifted, trying to find a comfortable position. This whole time the ring had been relatively quiet, she had built up a tolerance in more low-key moments. It was likely still on a high from the Hospital as well. Whilst the hum was always there, it was times like these that she could live with it.

As she grew bored of aimless speculation her mind wandered to a dangerous place, she dwelled on Mon-El. Normally she would push any such thought away immediately, however it was a moment of relative calm and there was time to kill. Curiosity as to how much of the fury of having to abandon him was truly her own was piqued. The ring stirred, trying to latch on to the thought and drum up the pounding of her heart. It was surprisingly easy to control, the grief remained but it appeared anger at his loss had lessened. It was only when the circumstances surrounding it that the ring caught hold. The unfair treatment of everyone involved. Lena forced to create a terrible weapon, Kal forced to fight her and everything he believed in, the actions of Rhea forcing her son into exile, the Guardians of the universe butting in to her business and then failing to find him. The sacrifices she had to make to protect the world. No-one won that day, but the only ones that cared past the point of the day being saved wanted to blame her for everything.

She turned to her side, rubbed the bridge of her nose and quietly growled to herself. She knew this train of thought could end up with her tearing the building in half. Her mind floated back and forth between the anger and the task she had given herself. The drumming of her heart gently rose and fell. She glanced out the window, the dim glow of streetlights and passing cars still made themselves known at this height. Occasionally it still felt strange, picturing the quiet streets at a time like this with no hint of tiredness. The number of times in her life where she felt weighed down by long days and she would wish away the exhaustion. Now she almost longed for it, barely remembering the last time she even yawned. There was only the pulsing of the ring keeping her mind ablaze. Even in moments like this, it bestowed her with a fiery focus that never truly switched off.

A short amount of time passed before she was fidgeting and at it again. Even if it was too early to talk to anyone or start making calls, there was bound to be something she could find online. The transformers she came across were likely owned and operated by a nearby building or business due to the relatively small size. It felt like a waste of time pursuing that angle, it would be unlikely any business would be saying anything about their power supply on a website or post. And as far as she could think, it lacked any real correlation with the other blackout sites. The interruption from security had her only focus on the people around the site. It occurred to her she had yet to investigate details about the site itself. She glanced out her window again, a flight back to Metropolis just to inspect the place would hardly take any time at all. In the blink of an eye, red light flared across the night sky as she sped over. The greyness of Metropolis seemed marginally less dull with small streams of light filling the streets. She floated high above, the cool night air brushing through her hair. Not wanting to trespass or show up on any CCTV, she narrowed her vision below. The whirring of the machines had an odd harmony with the ring's constant humming at her. Everything about them seemed standard, not that she had much expertise to go on. There were serial numbers and gauges that were hard to make out in the dark from such a distance. As she squinted to try and get any read on anything it occurred to her that the staff she had spoken too and listened in on earlier were security, most likely there to keep away prying eyes or stopping people hurting themselves. Their interaction with the machines had been negligible and had nothing to do with the specialist information available. There had to be someone who checked on them and conducted inspections or maintenance. Whoever this was would have expertise in electrical systems and easy access to this site at least. The more she thought about it, the more it fell into place. She floated slowly around to another angle and spotted the manufacturer and logo of the transformer's distributors. A large sticker on the side read, "Prism Electricals Ltd," accompanied by a picture of a prism dispersing light. With this lead in mind she flew to the other blackout areas. With speed on her side and something specific to look for, the dots started to connect. Though she was not successful in finding all of them, several of the blackout site central points had machines with the same label of Prism Electricals. With a lead to follow, she sped through the sky and came to a violent halt outside her apartment. She ran her hand along the wall as she made her way over to her laptop, her hand coming across the roughness of the new crack in the wall.

She pawed at the spacebar to bring it to some sort of life, Lena always telling her that it's better to turn it off than leave it on standby all the time nagged at her. The CatCo wallpaper it had glowed at her, memories of started to surface as the logo stared at her. She ignored them, more concerned with the task at hand and opened chrome. The tab blocked away the logo and beckoned her to search. Typing in "Prism Electricals Ltd" got her their website as the first result. It seemed professional enough, though it lacked a certain polish. She scrolled through the minimalist pages, mostly seeing information about their technology. The ranges of motors and transformers they had led to little. A small glimmer of hope was quickly quashed as information on their services only provided details about how it worked rather anyone who was involved. She stroked her chin and fiddled with her glasses as she investigated further. She had hoped for a list of staff members or something along the lines of "meet the team" to be around, but there was no such luck. There was little of any use until she scrolled to the bottom. Standard terms and conditions links, along with contact details and the location of their headquarters sat there in their own boring way, but it was links to their latest tweets that got her attention. As she suspected from the cheap design of the website, it was a small company. Infrequent tweets on holidays and award ceremonies for the company made up the bulk of their feed. There was a relatively small number of tweets to go through, she cursed at the screen as nothing of any further use jumped out at her. As she was about to close the laptop in frustration the number of followers caught her eye, there were only around two-hundred. A hunch was confirmed when she clicked, the only people that followed a small electrical manufacturer were other companies, and more importantly, employees. After going through the whole list several times, there were four "Jo's" to look into. Two of them had their jobs in their bios, someone in sales and the Vice president of the company. They did not seem like the types who would visit the sites regularly. It left her with a "Joe Bail" and a "Joanna Wallace."

Joe Bail's security settings gave her little to go on, she promptly moved on. Joanna Wallace did not have a lot to say. There were a few pictures of Lotus' she had drawn recently and photos with some family members. After a small delve into this woman's feed she found a picture of a high-vis along with a caption of "Got the job at Prism, next step of my new life in Metropolis." She checked the date, it was not that far off from the day the blackouts started. Kara had a name and the address of her work's headquarters. It had taken her hours of loose theories and dead ends, but she had something solid to go on. Even if Joanna Wallace turned out to know very little, it was a least a step in the right direction. A sense of accomplishment found its way into her head, a small throwback to her proper reporting days It seemed so long ago.

Finding her would be simple enough, it was just a matter of keeping an eye on Prism's headquarters. The question was how to approach her. Giving the game away of linking her directly to the blackouts could scare her away or provoke her. She looked at the screen and rested her elbow on the desk. This woman hardly seemed threatening, smiling away with her niece. Some spiel about needing a consultant could do the trick. Telling her she spoke to Robert from the other site and that he recommended her expertise, it was partially true at least.

She closed the laptop screen, for now all she could do with wait. As it clicked shut that same reminder of Lena's sprung to mind. She sighed and opened it up to shut it down properly.


	21. Prism

More waiting around, another cheap coffee. Her uncomfortable glasses made her nose itch, the price of wearing a spare pair. The situation seemed so familiar as she sat as near as possible to Prism's office, once again suffering through a bad drink to look less conspicuous. She had planted herself at a cheap-looking table outside for a better view of the street, it was near the centre of Metropolis but very much felt like an off-shoot. The street seemed only to be occupied by people rushing by or cars slowly trundling through to avoid worse traffic elsewhere, the dull weather amplified the mundanity. The building itself looked as bland as everything else. It was still quite early, so very few people had gone anywhere near the building. The only people that had gone in looked nothing like the pictures of Jo. Her eyes were drawn to the Prism logo, the red sitting at the top of the spectrum mocked her. Coincidence or not, there was no escaping the domineering red light in her life.

It felt like so much more waiting was involved with this job than she remembered. This was only amplified by the desire to go out there and be Supergirl instead. She was lacking the rush she got from putting down the unjust. With her speed and the ring's hunger for action she knew she could stop a several crimes before Jo even turned up. It was an itch that she was not letting herself scratch. Her eyes glazed over at the resentment of constantly having to restrain herself. There was no telling exactly when Jo would arrive, if she was unlucky she may have headed straight out to site visits and might not be at the office for the entire day. She did her best not to dwell on it. If it took too long she could just go in and ask around, though she preferred to interact with as few people as possible.

As she was contemplating possible bad luck, someone walked right by her table and into the coffee shop. Kara did not think much of it at first, focusing on Prism. Though as she processed what she saw, a youngish, brown-eyed woman with shoulder-length hair, it dawned on her who it was. The hair seemed a shade lighter than what she'd seen on twitter, but it was Joanna Wallace that had just walked into the coffee shop and joined a small queue. She looked down at her own half-finished coffee, she could catch Joanna on the way out. She watched her as subtly as she could get away with. Her voice seemed slightly gravelly, apart from that there was nothing out of the ordinary. Just a woman on her way to work getting a coffee. With coffee in hand Joanna moved off, narrowly avoiding another patron despite him being in clear view. After a small exchange and an apology she swung the door open.

"Excuse me?" Kara said. There was no response or acknowledgement. Kara stood up and tried again.

"Prism Electricals?" She said more forcefully, though trying not to be too loud. Joanna seemed startled as she turned and gave Kara a quick look over, there was suspicion in her eyes.

"Can I help you?" she said. Kara walked over to her, hoping to shake off the attention of a couple of confused onlookers.

"Sorry to startle you. I'm Kara Danvers, a reporter for CatCo. I'm looking into the Metropolis power outages," she said. Joanna's eyes narrowed.

"Why me?" She said. Kara did not miss a beat as an explanation flew out of her mouth.

"I was at a transformer site recently in regard to the story. I'm trying to get a better understanding of it all and one of the security guys said to go to the manufacturer," she said, purposefully not letting on she was looking for her specifically. Joanna's expression softened, she looked over her shoulder to Prism, then back at Kara. With a brief glance at her watch she nodded.

"I have to be at work soon, this'll have to be quick," she said.

"Any of your time is valuable," Kara smiled at her, beckoning her to her table. As the two got settled, Joanna rested her cup on a napkin and Kara whipped a tablet out from her bag. Joanna winced as she took a sip of the coffee.

"Too hot?" Kara said, attempting to be polite.

"Nah, I just don't normally drink the stuff," she said. Kara nodded, half-listening as she prepped her tablet to take any notes.

"You're not writing that down, are you?" Joanna said. Kara glanced up at her.

"What? Oh, no I'm just setting up," she said.

"Did you know I'd be here, this still seems a little strange," she said. Looking at her coffee again, it looked like she was trying to muster up courage to take another sip.

"I was going to your office, got here earlier than I thought so decided to have a sit down until office hours started. You just happened to walk right by me," she said.

"And you know I worked there?" Her suspicion not totally quashed. Kara raised an eyebrow and glanced at her polo shirt. The logo was stitched in on the right side, not the real reason Kara had recognised her, but it worked in her favour. Joanna tracked down to wear Kara was looking and laughed slightly.

"Ah… that's a bit of a giveaway isn't it," she said.

"Is it okay for me to ask you a few questions on the record?" Kara said. She was not sure if she was actually going to do a write-up, but it would not hurt to have the option.

"Sure," she said, taking out a pencil of her own.

"Can I get your name please?" Kara said.

"Joanna Wallace, you can call me Jo,"

"Thank you, Jo. As a technician I assume you do inspections and visits, is there anything wrong with the tech?" She said.

"Look, I'll be honest, there's not a lot I can tell you that the big-wigs haven't already confirmed. Everything seems to be in order before and after the power goes out," she said, idly drawing on her napkin.

"There must be something they're not saying, I mean that doesn't make a whole lot of sense," she said.

"If it made any sense they might be able to stop it happening," she said. Kara's eyes flitted away for a moment. She pushed her glasses higher up her nose.

"You haven't had any direct contact with the machines that are playing up?" Kara said.

"Afraid not, sorry if that isn't helpful," she said. Kara was sure she was being lied too, Robert's statement proved that much. What gave her pause was how the ring did not react, it never kept quiet if there was any malicious intent toward her. She brushed it with her thumb, the constant burning from it rose slightly, Joanna's eyes darted to her hand as it did. Kara reached out to her tablet with her ring hand, worried it had made itself visible on its own bizarre whim. She stretched out at the screen and saw no ring on her hand. It was still invisible, yet Joanna's eyes followed her hand intently.

"Jo?" Kara said. Jo shook her head in a quick motion and blinked very quickly.

"Sorry, another reason I may not be of much help. I've been a bit out of it recently, I've been thinking about taking some days off work but I just got this job, you know?" She said. Kara quickly forced a grin in an attempt to reassure, unable to decide whether it was for her or Jo.

"I get it, probably just stress of the new job, you'll settle in," Kara said. She spotted an opportunity in the barely touched coffee. "You know, caffeine will probably cause more harm than good." Jo sucked in some air through her teeth.

"I doubt I'd be able to have finished it anyway, no idea why people obsess over that stuff" Jo said.

"Can I have it? Hate to see it go to waste," Kara said.

"Sure," Jo said, merrily pushing the cup away from her side of the table.

"Is there anything you can tell me from a technician's perspective that'll give me more of an insight?" Kara said.

"You can maybe find out who serviced them directly, but I'm afraid I can't think of anything," she glanced at her watch and sat up straight. "Sorry, I need to get going. I feel like you've wasted your time."

"Don't worry about it, it was a gamble anyway," Kara said. She watched Jo gather her things and bid her goodbye. She watched her walk off, not looking for traffic as she crossed the street into the nearby office. Kara listened in, only a few greetings were thrown around, she tuned out of it before long. She glanced at where her ring would be and took a deep breath. Her time with Jo had only spawned more questions. She had lied, and something was certainly off about her. She was sure Jo had something to do with it all or was hiding something. It was the ring's lack of interest in anything Jo said or did that threw a spanner in the works. She waited a moment before picking up the coffee Jo had left her. She looked at the rim before reaching for her phone. Lena's name was sitting at the top of her speed-dial list. Kara fiddled with the cup and anything within reach whilst the phone rang, she dragged over Joanna's napkin. She had drawn another Lotus, similar to the ones she had on her twitter feed.

"Hi Kara, I'm with someone at the moment," Lena's voiced broke the ambience.

"Not a problem, but I could call later?" This was usually Lena's way of making sure any Supergirl related topics were worded carefully, but Kara liked to check anyway.

"Erm… give me a few moments" Lena said, she heard Lena tell someone to hold on, echoing footsteps and a door shut before her voice was clear again. "Alright, what do you need?"

"I'll be quick. Do you know anything about the power cuts in Metropolis?" she said, looking up at some sad looking power-lines.

"Only in passing, why?" she said.

"I've spent this break investigating it." She picked up the cup again. "I've got a coffee cup someone drank from, I'm assuming you can determine if someone's a meta-human or an alien from their DNA?"

"You're reporting again? That's great to hear," Lena stopped, it sounded like she was hoping for a response of some kind, Kara stayed silent. With a reluctant hesitation Lena carried on "As to your question, I can do that, although I'd like a bit more detail before doing something of that nature."

"I found and spoke to someone that seems close to it all, she was lying about her whereabouts and seems a little off to me." Kara thought back to her experience outside the hospital and Joanna's laser focus on the invisible ring. "I think she may have the ability to siphon or steal energy."

"What do you mean by a little off?" Lena said.

"A bit spaced out, overly tired. It could just be the stress of her job, but something just seems wrong about it to me." There was a pause before Lena responded. "Lena?"

"Can you bring this cup to me at 11am? I'll be in my L-Corp office, we can talk about your reporting and catch up a bit," she said.

"Sure," Kara said, she was not sure she had a whole lot to say to her, but Lena always liked to offer.

"Who is this person by the way?" Lena said.

"A technician at an electronics manufacturer called Prism, Joanna Wallace," she said.

"Thanks, I think my forensics gear was starting to feel unloved anyway. Anything else?" Lena said. Lena's closeness to her lab equipment was a cute little quirk of hers.

"No, that'll do for now. See you at eleven," she said.

"Bye for now, take care," Lena said

"Thanks, you too," she said, the call ended. Kara grabbed the cup, she did not want to pursue Prism or Jo any further without confirmation. The ring sent another burning pulse through her veins as she stepped off, clearly it enjoyed the idea of tormenting her now she had a couple of hours to kill.


	22. Return

Lena's return was lackadaisical as she came back into to the lab, the slow meandering steps as if she was in deep thought.

"Is everything okay?" Sam asked, she had rarely seen Lena this distracted.

"Yes," Lena said, still not quite with her. She snapped out of this mild trance and her eyes widened "Sorry, I just need to make one more quick call," she said. Sam nodded and glanced around the overly-familiar room. The past month of her life had been spent in two places. Superman's back room and labs just like this one. Though she thought she had grown tired of it all, she had kept putting off chances to leave. Today was the day she had finally decided to return to the real world, with Ruby transferring back to her school in National City and excited to live with her again, there was no turning back.

She was sat on a stool near one of the several work-benches, the lab had a shine to it, save for the beaten area where the upper-limits of her new arm were tested. There had been a lot of lifting heavy objects and smashing hard surfaces whilst Lena recorded every outcome, checking and double checking everything she could. She had been assured by Lena that everything was in order, but she had kept insisting as an excuse to put things off just that little bit longer.

"I need you to go to Metropolis, now," Lena had not bothered to step outside for this call and her voice echoed around the large space. Sam did her best not to eavesdrop, but even now she was still getting used to her heightened senses.

"Sure thing." A male voice she did not recognise was on the other side of the call. There was a pause.

"You're not going to ask any more questions?" Lena asked.

"I kind of assumed there'd be a follow-up," he said. Lena glanced over her shoulder.

"I'll send you the details shortly, just get a ticket to somewhere central," she said.

"I'm supposed to be the vague one. Is someone listening? Tell them I said hello," he said. Lena sighed heavily, letting the silence stew. "You're not going to say hello from me, are you?"

"You know I'm not," she said. He tutted.

"Shame," He said.

Lena exhaled from her nose sharply.

"Drain. Be ready," she said.

"I'll get there ASAP," he said, his jaunty tone had fallen off instantly. Lena pulled the phone away from her ear and she strode back from the corner with a concerned look on her face.

"What's up?" Sam asked.

"Personal business. Don't worry about it," Lena said. Lena could act strange around her sometimes, it was understandable. She barely remembered anything whilst Reign had been in control, but the image of her hand around Lena's neck had made its way through to her. Despite this, Lena had been supportive the entire time and Ruby had taken a real shine to her. Lena sank an extensive amount of work in helping their recovery, both physically and mentally. She decided not to pry, it was the least she could do.

Lena pulled up a stool next to her.

"Now, I know the first day back is going to be daunting. But everything's been cleared, your constant change in look during… well…" Lena swallowed hard and gave herself a moment. "It's extremely unlikely you'll be recognised, and if you are, procedures are in place." Sam nodded silently, though recognition was the least of her worries. She had grown accustomed to her ghost-white skin and red hair, but in public she was worried about how much she would stand out. The bionic, black arm was incredible, but she had no doubt in her mind as to how much attention it would draw.

"And one more parting gift from the lab." Lena said, picking out a small device from her jacket pocket and presenting it to her. It was a small leather-strapped watch with a blue and red face.

"Whilst there's no chance of relapse, I know you're concerned for Ruby's safety. I'm hoping this will provide some peace of mind." She held the watch up to her, pointing at three buttons on the right side. "If all three are pressed at the same time, Superman and myself will be notified of her location immediately. We both have devices that are linked to it for communication as well, the range is practically unlimited."

Sam smiled at her, it was a thoughtful gift. Lena had always taken her concerns seriously, even the few times it felt like she was being humoured she knew it came from a good place.

"With how much she likes Superman, she might use it just to say hi," she said. Lena laughed.

"Please stress to her that it's for emergencies only." Sam took the watch, it was a simple design. Ruby had never expressed interest in wearing one, the connection to Lena and Superman would probably change that attitude. She reminded herself to tell Ruby to keep her connection to all this secret, the last thing she needed was school kids gossiping about the peculiar developments in her private life.

Lena's smile faded as she carried on.

"As for your job, it's a bit tricky. In all honesty I replaced the C.F.O. spot very quickly, I didn't know how long you'd be gone and Prometheus forced me to act fast. Keeping investors from bailing and whatnot. I'd gladly take you back into L-Corp, you'd be a fantastic asset to the company, but publicly it would look like a demotion. Same goes for saying you were fired, you'd have the severance package to work with but career-wise it could look bad for you."

She thought for a moment, she was in no mood to dive straight back into a job at all, let alone a demotion. She had cash-bought the house, the perks of being a high earner, and had savings to throw at any living expenses for a while.

"Just say I quit for personal reasons, I'm alright for money," she said. Lena furrowed her brow.

"If you're sure, I can pull some strings if you want a new job elsewhere." Sam held her hand out as the cogs in Lena's brain turned away.

"It's okay, really, I think I want some time away from work to figure out…" she gestured to herself and the prosthetic "all this, first." Lena nodded, it looked like she wanted to say more but she refrained. Instead she put some keys down on the workbench, they jangled and scratched against the surface.

"I've got your house keys here. Superman will bring Ruby and her things over from Metropolis this evening. I think that covers it all," Lena said. Sam slowly dragged the keys across, it was peculiar. Her sense of touch with the prosthetic seemed so real, but the slight differences were still noticeable. It would take time to get used to the mild detachment and odd tingles that occasionally made their way across the whole thing. Her unease was exacerbated by the mixture of excitement and fear she felt for going back to her old life. Ruby's spirits had hardly seemed to have dampened at all when she visited her at the Fortress. Even without any sign of it, the worry that Ruby would see her differently, or even fear her in this new state still lingered. Once everything was settled again she might long for her mother before the change. Deep down she knew that was not in Ruby's nature, but being so young there was no way of really knowing what effect it could have. She tried not to dwell on it, letting the reassurances of Clark and Lena run through her head.

"Thank you, Lena" Sam said.

"It's nothing, keys are easy enough to keep an eye on and Superman…"

"No, I mean thank you for everything. You've done so much for me and Ruby. I know what I… what Reign did to you. You'd have been well within your right to never want to see me again, let alone caring for my daughter and ensuring my safety," Sam said cutting her off.

Lena cocked her head.

"You may look the same, you may even feel what she felt. But the Sam I've come to know couldn't be further from Reign. You deserve all the love and support you've gotten, it's what's made it such a pleasure to do all this for you," she said. Sam did her best to hold back tears in the face of such kindness. She went into hug her, but Lena flinched away.

"Oh… er, sorry," Sam said, having forgotten herself. Lena closed her eyes and breathed heavily.

"It's okay," Lena said, looking embarrassed. She recomposed herself and hugged Sam. It was notably uncomfortable for the both of them, though Sam appreciated the sentiment.

"I won't waste what you've done for me, you're giving me my life back, I shan't soon forget it. can't think how I can repay you…" she said, her anxieties starting to wash away. She had taken the step forward and now was wandering why there had been any hesitance at all.

"No need for repayment, just let me keep seeing Ruby from time to time," Lena said.

"I don't think I could keep her away. Sam said. Lena smiled again. After everything she had been through it was refreshing to truly let some positivity into her life again.

"Come on, I'll escort you out and my driver can take you home," Lena started to tidy a few things away and tucked in the stool.

Sam stood up, making her way over to the exit. Lena had touched her thumb against a pad, the lights were shutting off behind her as she walked on. Each fear she had embraced falling away with each row of lights clicking off. She knew it was not the last she would see of a lab like this, for now though it was cathartic, watching the door close as the last light shut itself off.


	23. Home

The house seemed smaller than before despite it being the same spacious design she had fell in love with when she first viewed the place. All that time spent in open labs and an icy cavern seemed to have messed with her perspective. It smelled fresh and things seemed shinier than when she was in charge of keeping everything in order. Lena must have had it cleaned whilst she was gone. She thought to herself how it would not last long, her lack of time between looking after Ruby and her own work always kept anything other than a quick tidy off the cards. It dawned on her that she no longer had the work side of things, her time was her own.

Whoever had been through here with a whirlwind of cleaning supplies had been extremely thorough, though had also re-arranged a few spots. She spent this time reacquainting herself with all the draws and shelves. Cutlery clanged together as she put things back in order and did what she could to return everything to its rightful place. As she toured the house she spotted a couple of bags sitting on top of one of her taller cabinets, no doubt cast aside in the cleaning efforts and left above it all. The bag strayed a little too far, even when she stretched up onto her toes. Her mechanical fingers scraped along the leather and only ended up pushing the bag slightly further out of reach. She huffed and looked around the room, looking for something to stand on. The coffee table and some wayward chairs caught her eye. She grabbed a chair a plonked it next to the cabinet, it creaked as she stepped up, she grabbed the bag and chucked it to the carpet below with a gentle thud. Her attempt to dismount the chair was more careless than she would have liked and it slipped from beneath her feet. Instinctively she lashed out to try and grab hold of something, only to take a chunk out of the cabinet as her grip ripped right through it. In that moment she braced herself, closing her eyes and knowing the floor would show little mercy. When that moment stretched out to a few seconds and she was yet to feel the floor's attack, she opened her eyes to find herself floating. The powers besides her strength had not really occurred to her as she slowly spiralled a few inches above the ground. Disorientation started to kick in as her rotation inched her closer to swinging upside-down. She refused to let go of whatever force was keeping her afloat due to fear of a less than graceful landing. Superman had always carried her between any testing sites and his Fortress, at first it was not to strain her or risk any correlation between her power and Reign. When this was cleared it was her own worries that kept her from exploring this new side of herself. There was no sign of particular negativity or an urge to conquer anything cropping up, only relief that no-one could see her in this moment of clumsiness. Hair flopped over her face as the gradual orbit finally turned her fully upside-down. She tried to blow it off, but it just ended up back in place. She was still in two minds about dyeing it back to what used to be its natural colour. She had never pictured herself with red hair, her unexpected transformation had changed that outlook very quickly.

After spending a few more minutes avoiding the ground she made the decision to try some sort of landing. Being found in a permanent orbit next to a broken cabinet was not how she wanted to be found for the sake of her dignity as well as wanting to at least appear stable for Ruby's sake. Her vision blurred slightly, the prolonged amount of time spent spinning upside-down was giving her a headache. Though she had to admit, the room did actually seem bigger from this perspective. A lack of furniture on the ceiling made it seem a lot larger than the floorspace. Her hair was tickling her nostrils as she hung, she blew it away to no avail once more. She closed her eyes, picturing herself righting her slow trajectory. A small dizzying rush came over her as she rotated to the correct position. The world was the right way up again and her feet dangled away, her toes brushing against the soft carpet.

With a concerted effort she fell back to Earth. It had very much been a case of falling rather than a gentle landing, any more than a few inches off the ground would have made it a significantly more violent return to Earth. Part of her wanted to try again, she hesitated, knowing her that a lack of control could end up with her flying off with no solid idea on how to get down again. Testing powers in the house she just got back and was decidedly a bad idea. Whether to test them further elsewhere or try and forget would be a decision for later.

She watched the clock as the day went by, unsure what to do with herself. Most of the time ended up over-preparing for Ruby's arrival. It was late afternoon, but no doubt there'd be a small delay due to her last day in Metropolis. The time went by quickly, even when there finally was a knock on the door she did not quite feel ready.

She swung the door open and Ruby immediately pounced on her, holding her tight. She squeezed back, holding her back as much as she could at the awkward angle. They held each other for a long time, neither wanted to let go. After everything it was a moment to savour as the two were reunited in their home. When she finally started paying attention to the world outside of her daughter's return she saw Superman beaming away in the porch, he had a couple of boxes beside him with Ruby's things in. She beckoned Ruby in and went over to him.

"I'm sorry, I'll get out of your way," she said.

"No need to apologise, it's nice seeing you two together again. I'll bring these in for you," he said, still smiling. She moved aside and followed him in. Ruby stood in the middle of the room, taking it all in. Superman placed the boxes down in the front room and turned to her.

"Welcome home," he said. It was his turn to get a hug from Ruby.

"Care to stay for a bit," Sam said. Superman turned to her, but before anything, Ruby, still wrapped around his leg cut in.

"Pleeeeease?" She said. Superman chuckled

"I guess I can't say no to that," he said.

"Pull up a stool by the kitchen, I'll see what I have," she said, only now realising after all the rearranging she had done, food or drink had not crossed her mind once. The cold hit her face as she was met with the sight of a largely empty fridge.

"I can offer you water, or squash" she said, slightly embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it," he said, his cape flapping over his side. She was stood behind the counter, elated to see Ruby digging into the boxes and getting comfortable with no hesitation or tentativeness.

"Thank you for this. For everything" she said.

"No need for thanks, happy to help," he said. Ruby pulled up alongside them and plonked a card down on the counter.

"And how was your last day?" she said.

"Everyone was really nice, they got me this card, even the teachers signed it. I got really good grades whilst I was there, Lois was sad, I didn't get to say goodbye to Clark though," she said, rushing through her words excitably.

"Clark was working, but I'm sure you'll see him again soon," Superman said.

"Do you know what Clark and Lois like? I want to get them a bottle or a gift as a way of thanks," she said. He chuckled to himself.

"I have a pretty good idea, I'll write down some suggestions," he said.

The three of them chatted away, mostly listening to Ruby spout about her time in Metropolis. It was hard not to get caught up in her excitement and a joy to see her so happy again, her other visits had always felt too short. Ruby had dug into the boxes a few times to show off some top marks and a Superman poster. She even dragged him into her old room to show him where she was putting it up in there. It seemed to make him slightly uncomfortable, Sam smirked at his humility. It dawned on her how delightfully odd it was witnessing the famous Man of Steel be dragged around her home by her daughter. After some more time chatting and Ruby started to calm down slightly, Superman looked to the door.

"It's been a pleasure, but I really should get going," he said. Ruby groaned. "Don't worry, I'll come and visit again," he said.

"You promise?" Ruby said, grabbing his hand

"I promise," he said, kneeling to her level and touching her shoulder. Sam lead him over, whilst Ruby waved him away.

"Thank you for this," Sam said, slightly closing the door off and poking her head around it. It was her best attempt to shield him from Ruby's onslaught of happiness.

"Any time. Take care," he said, looking to set off.

"One more thing," Sam said, glancing over her shoulder. Ruby's concentration had waned, fatigue from a long day an excitable couple of hours starting to get the better of her. "The powers, did you get a hold of them quickly?" Superman looked slightly unsure at the question.

"It took me a fairly long time, lots of… interesting moments in my early days. Why do you ask?" He said.

"I took a tumble off a chair earlier and ended up floating around for a bit," she said. His smile quickly returned.

"Ah, yes. Flying takes a bit of getting used too but it comes naturally after a few attempts. As for anything else, it takes a lot of concentration and a concerted effort for them to trigger in any meaningful way so I wouldn't about any accidents," he said.

"That's a relief," she said, a wealth of new worries flooding her head at the mention of potential other powers. Superman picked up on it straight away.

"If you have any worries or anything unexpected does happen, just talk to Clark, Lois or Lena. They know how to reach me," he said. She nodded.

"I'll let you get on your way. Goodbye, and again, thank you for everything." He shot her a wink and blasted off into the sky. The gust from his launch blew the grass around it into a flattened circle, she went over to it brushing back to a more presentable state. As she did, she noticed the house opposite the street had someone peeking through a blind. They vanished behind it when she caught their eye. She spotted more prying eyes as she glanced around the neighbourhood, any hope of a quiet return had just been dashed. There was a boy a few doors over who was brave enough to keep staring despite being noticed. She gave him an uneasy wave, it seemed to make the boy more nervous. It was then she realised she'd waved at him with the prosthetic. She quickly ducked inside, ignoring the lawn and hoping the arm did not appear too outlandish. The door slammed behind her, startling Ruby. Her strength was harder to control when nerves started to set in.

"Are you okay," Ruby's voice settled her quickly. She took a deep breath and smiled at her.

"Never better," she said. Ruby had planted herself in the front room and was rummaging through the boxes again. Her things were piling up on the table, the spotless condition of the house had not lasted long.

"I hope you plan on tidying those up," she said. Ruby ignored her and kept digging. She set herself down next to Ruby. There was not that much to go through, but Ruby picked up the pace as she dove into the second box.

"What are you looking for?" Sam said.

"My phone, I think it fell to the bottom," Ruby said. Sam's heart sank a little.

"Bored of me already are you?" she said.

"No, I want a picture of us," Ruby said. She could not help but smile, such a simple desire from Ruby got right to her core. The love she felt for her daughter and how happy she was to be back in her life was nearly overwhelming. She hugged her and leant forward, she could see the phone under a pile of various knick-knacks. She reached in, her artificial arm brushing against Ruby's hand. She pulled away slightly, surprised by its touch. Sam hesitated slightly before pulling out the phone and handing it to her. Ruby grabbed it quickly, fiddling with it and quickly bringing up the forward-facing camera. She got in close so they were both in frame, clicking away at the button to get several shots. A couple of photos in Ruby stuck her tongue out and Sam could not help but pull a silly face in response.

Ruby laughed as she scrolled through them, she was glad to see like this. A self-conscious pang crept in as she smiled at her daughter, these were the first photos of her after the transformation. Even having gotten used to her reflection over the past month, seeing the photos with Ruby seemed different somehow. Ruby embracing it so whole-heartedly was enough to reassure her for the most part, it made it much easier to thnk she would get used to over time.

"Can I stay with you tomorrow, have a day out or something?" Ruby shifted, looking her in the eyes. She was tempted to say yes, one day of school would not be much of a loss. Her common sense prevailed though, the school would be expecting her and from what she could tell the staff there had largely been kept in the dark as to her and Ruby's circumstances. The cover story was a rare health concern that only specialists in Metropolis could treat, it was close to the truth all things considered. She thought better off stretching the school's trust any further or having them ask more questions.

"We'll have time at the weekend," she said. Ruby's shoulders slumped slightly.

"Okay then," she said semi-defeated, it sounded like it was the answer she was expecting. She put her arm around Ruby and stroked her cheek with her rea hand. Though the differences were subtle, it was so much more real. Ruby cuddled into her.

Sam stared off into nowhere as her hand brushed against Ruby's skin. She ran through the simple tasks for the next day, like the school run and grocery shopping. The muffled whirs of her artificial fingers served to remind her of her neighbours and that a regular day had the potential to be a lot more interesting than she would like. She turned back to her daughter, they were tomorrow's problems.


	24. Welcome

She tapped the steering wheel nervously. The sound of the artificial fingers pattering against the leather seemed so strange and the smooth, detached feeling of it was a little off. She kept stealing glances at Ruby, her excitement for this school-run was the only thing that kept her nerves from truly getting the better of her. Luckily it was cool enough to justify long sleeves, of course the weather had not been kind enough to justify gloves. The greyish black of her right hand almost matched the colour of the steering wheel itself. Ruby having seemingly no trouble with it at least made it easier to deal with. She wanted to return Ruby's strength and patience by trying to keep things as normal as possible. Even if she had worn gloves, there was little she could have done to hide her face. Over the month at the fortress she had grown accustomed to this extreme paleness, though glimpses of herself in the rear-view mirror still caught her off-guard. She reassured herself it was the new environment putting her off and continued to drum against the wheel.

A horn sounded off behind her, the car in front of her was long gone. She quickly put her foot down to compensate. The car shot forward, she misjudged how short the distance was to move along in the dense traffic and needed to brake relatively hard. She braced for the change in force, expecting the inertia to throw her forward slightly. It caught Ruby off-guard as she jolted forward.

"Are you okay?" she said.

"Yeah, I'm good," Ruby said, it had been minor and she seemed to shrug it off easily enough.

"Sorry about that," she said. Sam looked at her hand and rubbed her chin, she had not felt the push and pull of the car at all. The forces that would normally fling her around seemed to have lost this battle with her. She shook off these thoughts when she looked to Ruby. She prided herself on her adaptability, this was just a particularly strong test for those skills. The rest of the journey was relatively uneventful. The traffic lightened and clear weather made it an easy trip when she switched her focus to enjoying Ruby's company. The school building got ever closer as the car rumbled on, though they were still a few minutes away she could already hear the chatter of the kids and the usual hum-drum of the start of a school day. It took extra focus, but she managed to hone her hearing back to a more comfortable range. The benefit of having sat around in a cavern and labs for so long was nothing but time to adjust to her more powerful senses. She hoped the finer control of her strength and the flying would come naturally a little sooner now she had the real world to contend with. As she checked the sides of the roads she saw plenty of places to pull over, a few students were walking by but the streets were calm enough and not many people seemed to be paying too much attention. They were focused in the direction they were going rather than people popping out of cars around them. A question she had debated with herself popped into her head.

"Do you want me to pull over here, or should I drop you off right by the school?" she asked. Ruby looked confused.

"Right by the school," Ruby said. Sam could not help but smile, the idea of being embarrassed by her strange-looking mother had not even seemed to have occurred to her. She pulled away from spaces to park with that same smile on her face. The familiar site of grouped up children with bags that were slightly too big for them came into view as they loitered outside the school grounds. Soon enough they were parked nearby, the click and whir of Ruby's seatbelt flying off was surprisingly enthusiastic.

"Glad to be back I see," she said.

"It's felt like forever, it'll be good to see my friends again," Ruby said. As she got out with no bag, Sam realised she had instinctively put it in the boot before they set out. Any hopes of staying even remotely discreet were out of the question now. She took a deep breath, with Ruby's approval she figured she may as well steer into the skid. She unclicked her own seatbelt and stretched as she got out of the car. She knew it was a bad idea to look for a reaction, but she could not stop her eyes darting to the front of the school. She clocked a few people giving her strange looks as she emerged. She did her best to ignore them and walked around the car, opening the boot for Ruby. She grabbed her bag and handed it to her.

"Have a great day, I'll see you later," she said.

"Thanks Mum," Ruby said, set on scampering off.

"Look carefully before crossing the road," she said. The traffic by the school was not even moving as people dropped off their children in apparently the least considerate places. It was a habit people managed to keep in her absence. Ruby turned to give her a slightly bemused look, she knew what she was doing, though it would never stop her telling her to be careful. Ruby turned again to set off but hesitated and stopped herself for a moment.

"Love you, Mum," she said, before heading by the unmoving cars and into the school grounds. Sam stood by the car, her eyes followed Ruby's path into the building. She clocked Ruby getting stopped for a brief conversation with , the school's principle. She was unsure about whether to listen in, she was certainly curious. She opted against it, part of the package of adjusting back to regular life was not to abuse her new abilities. If anything, she could just ask Ruby later. Ruby seemed to move off quickly, though Sam did not know where to look when immediately walked out the entrance and headed toward way. She was an older woman and seemed to care little about hiding it. Grey hair, glasses on small chains and an old-fashioned dress sense all added to this. Whenever they had spoken in the past, was energetic and savvy. It made her think the look she went for was very much intentional, either way it made for a slightly comedic scene as she jogged out, no faster than walking, and waved her down. She looked taken aback when Sam waved back. She noticed it was because she had waved with her right hand again, she would either have to get used to the reaction or train herself to greet people with her left hand.

" , so good to see you again," said as she approached.

"It's good to be back," she said. She watched the Principle's expressions closely.

"I've missed Ruby, she's such a bright young thing," Mrs. Bennett said, she was not subtle in her attempt to take in the sight before her. The official line that the school was told was a rare disease that only specialist equipment in Metropolis could treat, she imagined this did not translate to ghost-white skin and a robotic hand in the staff's mind.

"She was excited to come back, she missed this place a lot," Sam said, starting to feel slightly more self-conscious as more parents and students began to look their way.

"I've always loved her enthusiasm. Anyway, I just wanted a quick chat. There's a few things to sort out admin-wise now that she's returned. Nothing too strenuous I assure you," she said.

"I'll be happy to do what's needed, if it's paperwork I'd prefer you e-mail it to me though," she said.

"That's no problem at all," she said, hesitating slightly and adjusted her glasses. "Apologies if this is a little forward but I also have to say the PTA has lacked a certain… drive, in your absence. I wouldn't ask if you didn't seem up for it, but you seem to be in remarkable condition all things considered and if you have the energy it would be great to have you back."

Sam was unsure how to respond, the request seemed genuine rather than her just trying to be polite.

"Well the treatments were certainly very effective," she said, deciding against directly addressing the elephant in the room. "I'd like a bit of time to think, I'll be picking up Ruby at the end of the day. I can print out and hand over any admin in person if you'd prefer. If I've decided whether to dive back in by then I'll let you know," she said.

"No problem at all , I'm so glad that things have turned out so well for you and Ruby, we've all been praying for your health and safe return," she said.

"Thank you, it means a lot," she said, hiding a smirk. If they had only known how bizarre the circumstances they had been praying about were.

"Well, I must be going, take as much time as you need," she said. before heading back to the school. She glanced back at her a few times as she walked away.

She took a deep breath as she got back in the car, there were still a fair few prying eyes her way. She found herself caring less than she thought she would.

When she returned the home the rest of the day flew by. The admin thrown her way was simple enough to deal with. She had been worried her odd circumstances would make some questions difficult to answer, but Lena had provided her with a comprehensive enough cover story. She had spent the past few hours going over what the school had thrown at her, checking over and over for any inconsistencies or odd answers that would make Ruby's transition back to National City more difficult. As she was getting herself in order she was interrupted by a knock at the door. She had only been back for a day and was not expecting anyone. She froze in place for a moment, the door seemed ominous and approaching it was hard to muster courage for. As she looked around the room it occurred to her she did not need to approach to see who was visiting any more. She squinted slightly and saw the other side easily enough. A smartly dressed, short-haired woman was waiting there. She slowly made her way over, inspecting this woman with each step. She opened the door carefully and a badge was quickly flashed at her.

"Hello there Ms. Arias, Alex Danvers, F.B.I." was said at her. She opened the door wider at seeing the badge. Quickly noticing this woman's hands were of a similar design to her own prosthetic, her tense shoulders quickly relaxed again. This woman looked oddly expectant.

"Oh hello, can I help you," she said. Her face seemed to relax slightly at this response.

"May I come in?" she said.

"Oh of course, sorry, I wasn't expecting visitors," she said, stepping aside.

"Sorry to drop by unannounced, Ms. Luthor has been working with us to ensure your transition. Just wanted to check in on you," she said. Any suspicion she had was quelled when Alex took her jacket off, almost the entirety of her arms were the same design as hers. Sam moved toward the fridge, she was about to offer something, then remembered she was yet to do a grocery trip.

"I'm afraid all I can off you is water," she said.

"Don't worry about that, I was asked to swing by to see how you were settling back in," Alex said.

"That's nice, I must say it's been surprisingly easy so far," she said, offering her a seat on the sofa. Alex obliged, Sam took the chair nearby, she found herself doing her best to sit up straight

"Well, we've done what we can on our end to keep things smooth, you'd probably be reassured that your daughter's school have a knack for detail, harder work on our end but they certainly have her wellbeing at heart," she said. Sam laughed, looking over at her own laptop, suddenly no longer satisfied with the job she had done.

"Well I'd like to say I can't thank you enough, I'm guessing my situation was quite a difficult one to get your heads around," she said. Alex chuckled.

"Certainly more unique, I'll give you that, but it's nothing we can't handle," she said. Sam nodded, trying to keep her attention away from the prosthetics Alex was merrily waving around as she spoke. Alex noticed her watching them intently, she guessed as an FBI agent she was more attentive than most.

"Sorry," she said.

"Ha, don't worry about it. Of all people I imagine you understand better than most," Alex said, flexing her fingers.

"I guess so, if you don't mind me asking, how long have you had them," she said, she wondered whether asking how it happened was appropriate.

"Oh, a while now," Alex said.

"Do you get used to them?" She asked. Alex sighed.

"In a way, as good as they are, that detached sense of touch never really goes away," she said.

"Sorry, I don't mean to pry," Sam said, suddenly very aware of the tingling in her real arm.

"It's fine, feel free to ask this sort of thing. I'm here to help you settle," Alex said.

"Apart from a few odd looks thrown my way I've done alright so far, granted I'm only a day in," Sam said.

"I guess I'm lucky that most the people I know are used to injuries and odd sights. I know of some support groups that you might find useful," she said. Sam rubbed her arms, unsure how she would be received at something like that.

"How helpful are they?" She asked. Alex seemed to stop herself at first, before making eye contact with her.

"I've heard they can be very therapeutic," she said, adjusting her shirt uncomfortably. Sam looked at her own arm, it was not something she had really considered, concerned if maybe the reality of it was yet to hit her.

"Well, if these check-ups are regular then I can talk to you about it," Sam said.

"Well actually, that does lead me onto my next point. I was going to wait but it seems like you've already settled in down somewhat," she said. Sam leaned in closer as Alex carried on. "I have to admit, your particular set of skills is something we're very much interested in. I imagine you have a certain amount of loyalty to L-Corp but…" she trailed off.

"Is this a job offer?" Sam said.

"I guess, look I know it's early but someone as experienced as you could help us a lot," she said. Sam stopped and allowed herself to think, she had surprised herself with how easy the school run had been and without the school throwing admin at her she probably would have struggled to fill the time.

"I appreciate the offer, but I think I need time. I was hesitant to re-join the PTA today let alone the FBI," she said.

"I apologise if it seems insensitive, but I hope you understand, someone as capable as you could do some great things," she said.

"No offense taken, I imagine I wouldn't be able to sit still for long. Is this a standing offer, I'd like to think about my options? Although I'd also like to wait a bit, I've been fine so far but it's still early days," she said. Alex handed a card over.

"Call me whenever, even if it's just to talk about settling back in or arm troubles. And as far as the offer, even if its just consulting or a few hours a week, we'd love to welcome you back into work," she said.

"Thank you," Sam said, she sat back slightly. It was nice to have a contact that at least partially understood what she would be going through. As she sank back slightly, Alex seemed to get less comfortable.

"I hope all continues to be well, unless you have anything else to ask I should be on my way," she said, moving off from the sofa. Sam followed her to see her out.

"Thank you, Agent Danvers. I'll get back to you as soon as I can," she said.

"Alex is fine, and no rush. Even if you just want to talk, you can call that number," she said.

She closed the door, alone again. It had already been an odd day, she had feared what it would bring but already everyone seemed to want to be her friend. Even with the niggling doubts eating at her, it was clear she was put together enough for people to ask for her help. She smiled, glad Lena had talked her into coming back. She looked at her home and a large smile crept its way on to her face, things were working out better than she could have hoped. After taking a few moments to reflect on how well things were going the realties of the day started to flood back in. She had forms to look over, she had that apparent attention to detail to deal with. She also made a note on her shopping list for later, a reminder to splash out on the gift for Lena and Clark.


	25. Visit

The days had flown by, she had quickly fallen into a routine occasionally broken up with visits from Alex Danvers. Her staring contests with the house door got marginally easier each time she had to go out for an errand or do a school run. The fact Ruby was showing no trouble settling back in was a blessing. It was out of her control for now, she was still not used to the looks and whispers when she was in public spaces. It had happened again having just dropped Ruby off, she always pushed on. Thinking of Ruby was always the perfect salve for that drilling feeling off being watched or judged from afar. Mrs. Bennet was still pressing her to rejoin the PTA, each time getting a clearer picture that her organisation and ability to get to the point was sorely missed. It was a trait she prided herself on, she was certain it was why Lena hired her and why the FBI had been so eager to throw an opportunity her way. It felt good to be in demand.

These idle thoughts floated around her head, she hummed to herself as she pulled into her driveway. The humming stopped when she saw a man leaning in her porch, he seemed to be watching her intently. She felt a chill on the back of her neck as she pulled into her drive, unblinking eyes looking her over through the windscreen. She patted her side, her phone beckoned. Though tempted to call the police, there was an unsettling familiarity to him that stopped her. The man was clean-cut, wearing a plain hoodie and jeans. Thoughts raced through her mind, the front door was closed and undamaged, this man also showed no signs of panic at her showing up. It was unlikely she was being robbed, though he had an air about him which made her hesitate. Alex would have probably mentioned if someone else was being sent to see her. She took a deep breath, reminding herself she possessed super-strength and a wealth of abilities that meant she was much safer than she was used to. The man continued to watch, unmoving as she sat their deliberating.

"You're on my property," she said in a flat tone. Stepping out of the car but keeping the door open, between her and this potential threat.

"You don't know me," he said, still leaning. It was an unfamiliar voice, but something about it stirred in her mind. His intense watching made it hard to focus on it. Though he was relaxed, his eyes drilled into her. It made his casual demeanour somehow more threatening.

"Damn right I don't know you, what are you doing here?" she said. A grin curled up on the man's face and his eyes softened, it did little to ease her quickening heartbeat.

"You can consider me a friend," he said. She looked at him intently.

"I don't you know…" she began. He cut off her off, with an upbeat tone of voice that came out of nowhere.

"You can call me Spark," he said, standing up straight and giving her a slight nod. She got out her keys and slammed the car door harder than she intended, luckily there was no damage when she checked it with a side glance.

"I'm going to go into my house, if you interfere or you're still here by the time I'm inside, I'm calling the police," she said.

"I have no intention of interfering, I'm here to give you a little advice," he said.

"Well I'm not interested, Spark," she said, more and more convinced this was just a weird prank. With renewed vigour she walked to her door, she pushed by doing what she could to ignore him. He did nothing to resist, though as the door clicked open he spoke up again.

"Why pick Arias? Did the idea of a memorable name appeal to you at the time?" She stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned back to him. "I mean I get why you didn't stick with Jane Doe, hell of a boring name. I mean I guess they wouldn't let you keep it anyway."

Her chest instantly felt heavy, that first chill on her neck immediately sprung back and overtook her whole body. She spoke slowly and clearly, doing what she could to keep her voice from cracking.

"What are you talking about?" she said.

"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about, a lot can be gleaned from someone's name," he said.

"Explain yourself," she said, sounding out both words distinctly. She stared at him, too uncertain to wipe away the water that started to well up in her eyes. The back of her throat began to itch and she swallowed hard. He leaned back again, disinterested in matching her body language.

"I spoke to someone recently, her name was Jo, a real flower that one. Got adopted when she was 16, happily part of the family. Got a sister out of the deal and everything. No real memory of much that happened before that day though. Hazy pictures of a childhood that seemed to just blur by, no real details seemed to have stuck with her. I'm guessing the adoption thing chose her surname for her, a luxury it seems you didn't get," he said. It was familiar story. Extremely familiar. Not even Ruby knew about her early life, or lack of one.

"Who are you, really?" she said.

"Like I said, a friend with some advice," he said. She did not know whether confront him or to step inside and slam the door behind her. It was uncomfortable to be gripped by this indecision.

"I'm going to go ahead and guess someone from the FBI has been checking up on you. Friendly face, has a particular interest in your wellbeing, maybe a little too eager to work with you," he stopped for confirmation, she gave him nothing. "You should be weary. They aren't who they claim to be, this is way above the FBI. Call themselves the Department of Extra-normal Operations or DEO. One thing I can be certain of, regardless of what you've been told, is they're far more interested in Reign than they are in Sam."

"Leave my home, now," she said, she pushed the words through a dried up throat. He put his hands out and backed off.

"I've said what I came to say, tread carefully when dealing with them." He walked off with a skip in his step. She watched him turn sharply onto the sidewalk and saunter off like there had been no issue. She blinked several times, wiped her eyes, sniffed loudly and pushed on through. She quickly rummaged through the drawer she kept Alex's card in. It was disconcerting, her left hand was trembling ever so slightly. The hand that held out the card was firm and steady, it was working as expected but the ever-present detachment from it was more prominent.

She stood still, contact details in hand. Spark had been dead on, her past was something she never wanted to dwell on. Her first clear memories were her mid-teens where she had no care for the world, assuming she had been abandoned and meandering from place to place with no real direction. Alone and scared, she had finally sought out the help she needed. The charities she went too changed her life for the better, she was more than happy with what her life then became. Though she knew she was one of the lucky ones, Ruby coming into her life gave her a reason to keep going. She was almost grateful for knowing nothing of life before so had cast it aside, even using the blank slate to forge her own path forward. Her life had been motherhood, education and succeeding in just about every endeavour her careers offered her. Now this Spark person had come out of nowhere and immediately dredged up everything before that. The uncertainty, confusion and emptiness she thought she had cast aside for good.

She put Alex's contact details into her phone as it all flooded back. She stopped herself, not sure what to say. Her hand still trembled and it was hard to think clearly. She took a deep breath, it wavered slightly and she inhaled the salty taste of a running tear. She closed her eyes and attempted to focus, wiping her face dry. The prosthetic was less as absorbent as her skin did little to help as she dabbed at her face. She took another deep breath and ignored the small pain in her chest. Nothing had ever stopped her before, she was not going to let this encounter phase any more than it already had.

She thought about what to say. She wanted to avoid too much detail, just mention this man that knew too much about her.

She held her breath as the rings went through. Fortunately, the call was picked up quickly.

"Hello?" There was very little background noise, hearing her voice was soothing.

"Alex, it's Sam Arias," she said.

"Ah, I'm glad you called. To what do I owe the pleasure" Alex said.

She hesitated, breathing a little harder and trying to figure out how to best word the strange encounter.

"Is everything alright?" Alex said, concerned.

"Not exactly," she said.

"What's wrong?" Alex said.

"As you know, the past few days have been pretty normal and I've been able to get on with things. Today a man was at my house…" the words were not coming to her.

"It's okay to take your time," Alex said. She took another deep breath.

"He knew I was Reign," she said.

"Right… did he give you a name? Can you describe him?" Alex said.

"He called himself Spark, and erm… short hair, quite tall…" it had blindsided her slightly and was already struggling to recall what he looked like in any useful detail.

"I'll tell you what, I can swing round and pick you up and we can go through this together somewhere safe. I'll also send someone to keep an eye on Ruby," Alex said. Spark's warning about being weary played on her mind, but there was no way she was going to trust this man's word.

"I'd like that, could you keep it discreet, I don't want to worry her," she said.

"I'll see what I can do. Sit tight, I'll be with you shortly. Call again if you don't feel safe or if he comes back," Alex said.

"I will, thank you," Sam said, the call ended. She carefully placed herself on the sofa, she could feel every muscle in her body tense up and her body refused to let her relax into it. Despite her shaking, the prosthetic was still as steady as a rock. A harsh reminder of how normality was doing everything it could to stay out of her life. She checked the time, there was still plenty of the school day left. She wanted nothing more than to get this straightened out without Ruby's knowledge. The last thing she wanted was to put her through more trouble.


	26. Trust

Alex had arrived quickly and they were on the road toward the centre of National City. She could not stop thinking about Ruby.

The rumble of the tarmac droned on, the journey had mostly been describing what she could remember about Spark.

"Where are we headed?" Sam asked.

"We have a headquarters in National City, I've called ahead and they're expecting us. I have a suspicion on who this man might be and want to confirm it," Alex said.

"Am I in danger?" she said.

"If my hunch is right, then I don't think so. I'm sorry I can't be more reassuring than that," Alex said. It did little to ease her worries, at the very least she had stopped shaking.

There was a moment she picked up on where Alex went to scratch at her arm, she stopped herself and let out a small sigh.

She was led through a modern building, Alex flashed identification at multiple points, it was a lot of security to get through. One peculiar thing she noticed was the further in she got the less attention they paid to her. The inquisitive looks diminished along the way, even amongst the FBI she was almost put off by the lack of curiosity they displayed at her. After being led through some barren corridors and more checkpoints she was brought into a busy area. There were dozens of screens and work-stations about, glass walls into various other sections with strange technology and lighting. It reminded her more of a NASA control room than any law-enforcement office.

"What is all this?" Sam said.

"We're well funded in National City," Alex said, she beckoned her over to one of the workstations. "This is Agent Schott. The man waved at her. His screen had a series of pictures lined up, various men who had similar features to what she had described. "Are you able to identify this man from any of these?"

She looked closely, most of them were mug shots but a few outliers of pictures taken in the street were peppered among them.

"Can I get a closer look?"

"Of course," the agent said. One picture took up the whole screen, she was able to scroll through them one at a time

She scrolled through the mug-shots first to no avail. The other pictures were slightly blurry or taken from afar. She was worried the man would be hard to recognise, Spark had only spoken to her briefly and her memory of him was already hazy. As these concerns floated around her head, a clear picture hit the screen. There was no mistaking who it was, it was a flattering compared to the rest and he was leaning up against a wall, looking past the camera and off into the distance with a half-grin. Where he stood in the frame and how he stood, if it was as if he was posing.

"Him, that's definitely him," she said. Alex and agent Schott shared a look.

"I'll run it through facial recognition right away," Agent Schott said. Alex took her away from the screen and speaking as they walked toward the centre of the room.

"Is there anything more you can think of, anything at all about this man?" Alex said, a slight edge crept in her voice.

"I've told you what I can, he called himself Spark and knew more about me than I'd like. Is there something I should know?" She said.

"It's alright, we think this is a man whose popped up on our radar very recently. From what we know he isn't violent, you and Ruby should be safe even if he's poking around," Alex said, seemingly overcompensating a kind tone after her last question. Sam nodded, not liking the use of the world "should."

"How recent exactly? What do you know about him?" she said.

"Let's just confirm things first," Alex said. Avoiding the question was exactly what people did when the truth was inconvenient.

"Agent Danvers," Agent Schott beckoned to them.

"That was fast," Sam said.

"Well funded," Alex said. When she moved to follow Alex, she stopped her. "If you don't mind waiting here, sorry."

"Alright," Sam said. She did not want to be left out of the loop. The place was busy and it wasn't long before she found she was in the way.

"Excuse me Ma'am" someone said, he manoeuvred carefully as to not spill any of the coffee he was holding. He had not even given her a second look, as she paid more attention to her surroundings it was clear no-one in the room had even the slightest concern a ghost-white woman and a bionic arm was milling about. The more she looked the more it became clear something was off about this place. She tried to get a glance at a few of the screens around her but the agents did a good job of keeping them angled away. Alex certainly knew about her connection to Reign, either everyone else here was ignorant of that fact or more worryingly, this was business as usual for them. Spark's warnings played on her mind. There were no FBI logos to be seen and the extremely high-tech nature of her surroundings were red flags. She tuned her hearing over to agent Schott just as Alex approached.

"What have you got?" Alex said.

"A record from the DMV pinged," he said.

"The DMV, there has been precisely zero info on this guy and now you're telling me he has a driver's licence?" she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Finally a bit of luck I guess," he said.

"I want a name, address and at least one agent to keep an eye on him at all times," she said.

"Name: David Orian, Address…" he stopped mid-sentence.

"Why did you stop?" she asked.

"His listed address is… well…" he was struggling to find words

"Out with it, Winn," she said.

"It's our address, as in this building." Even from afar she could see Alex's face was quite the picture, the mixture bemusement and confusion.

"How is that… wait." A moment of realisation hit Alex's face. "I don't suppose that licence has a middle initial?"

"Yeah it's…" Winn began.

"E" Alex finished for him.

"How did you guess?" he said.

"Check the initials, he's mocking us," she said. Sam put it together in her own head "D.E.O., a lot can be gleaned from a name" she whispered to herself. There was at least some truth to what Spark had said, but she still trusted these people a whole lot more than him. There was no point playing it quiet, she wanted an explanation. She strode over to the two of them.

"Now I think of it, there was another thing Spark mentioned to me," she said.

"Any information you can give us helps," Alex said.

"He said that you someone like you would come along and that they weren't really with the FBI," she said.

"I'm sorry if what he said was distressing. I'll get you some coffee and we can go straight to recording a full statement. If he brought up anything else we can go over that too," Alex said. She had been through enough negotiations in her life to know the concern was a ploy. A lack of a denial and rapidly changing the subject felt very similar to the avoided question earlier.

"So, I guess the initials DEO actually mean nothing to you,"

Alex's face remained soft, but she picked up a slight twitch on Winn's face. Sam stayed silent, watching Alex's concerned expression. After a tense few seconds, the façade dropped and Alex's face turned sour.

"You were listening to us."

"I've got a strange man who you claim to know something about appearing at my door, and a woman who lied to me about working for the FBI," she said.

"Look, I'm sorry for the deception. We have your best interest at heart. What can I tell you to make you understand that?" Alex said.

"Just give it to me straight, no more smoke and mirrors," she said.

"I don't have clearance to do that," Alex said.

"I don't care," Sam said. Alex held her gaze.

"I can take you to someone that does," Alex said.

"Lead the way," she said, wanting this ordeal to be done with. She was brought up some stairs, the D.E.O.'s set up looked even more impressive from above. The busy agents below all rushing about or working away. Alex knocked on a door, there was a plaque beside it that read "Director." There was no name beside it, which made it far less inviting. She thought to herself if she had made the right decision in revealing her hand.

"Come in," the words came form inside the office. The door swung open to reveal a dark-skinned man with very short hair.

"You must be Sam Arias," he said, extending his hand. She shook it carefully, paying close attention to how much pressure she used with her prosthetic. "Hank Henshaw, What Can I do for you?"

"She knows we aren't FBI. She wants the truth," Alex said. Hank let out a long sigh, it was the type of sigh she had heard before. One that suggested this was another issue piled on top of a whole host of other ones for him.

"You think the is the best way to approach this, Agent Danvers?" He asked, folding his arms.

"I do, sir," she said. His eyes flitted between two of them.

"I'll trust your judgement on this. I'll also trust you to look out for Ms. Arias in an appropriate manner."

"I understand, sir," she said. Hanks hands moved to on his hips.

Apologies for the deception, it's standard procedure and we wanted to ease you into our set-up," he said.

"Why approach me at all?" she said.

"It wasn't a lie when Agent Danvers here was checking in on you, Superman has kept us informed of your wellbeing and I wanted to make sure you were settling in okay," he said.

"And recruit me, apparently," she said.

"Also true, the fact of the matter is we've been on back foot recently and lost one of our best people. Having you with us could help a lot with our primary goal, one that's taking up all available time and resources," he said.

"What goal, and how am I supposed to help," she said.

"There's no way to sugar coat this, so I'll be blunt. You were a World Killer, we have reason to believe there are more out there," he said.

"More…" she slumped, of course it was not over.

"Our intel is that there are four World Killers. We have it on good authority that you're safe. Which leaves three unknowns, if there's anything you can tell us," he looked to her expectantly.

"I'm afraid I didn't really know anything before I… changed, and have very little memory of when Reign was in control," she said.

"Not to worry, Agent Danvers can follow up and ask any further questions we may have. There's also a much more recent issue that has come to our attention. We've caught wind of a cult in National City, one that's obsessed with Krypton and have a particular interest in the World Killers. As I said, I wanted to ease you into this but here we are. As far as they know, Reign simply disappeared. You can approach them directly and gather information for us, even dismantle it if they're willing to do what you say," he said. Sam found the seat behind her and slumped into it, not even a week and she was back in the fray.

"I'm sorry if this is a lot, but we could really use your help," he said.

"I want to go home," she said.

"I understand. Agent Danvers, see that she's looked after. And please, consider our offer. It'd make a huge difference to our efforts here," he said. She did not respond, it played on her mind that there were more out there like her, going about their lives unaware of the danger they presented it. It was a lot to take in. Alex put her arm around her.

"Come on, I'll take you home," she said.


	27. Traffic

The car's radio was droning the latest news at them, she was not taking any of it in. Traffic was slower on the way back, she rested her head against the window. She was trying to organise her thoughts, ignorance was less complicated. It was easy to be envious of the pedestrians that walked by her window with their trivial concerns. It also dawned on her than any one of them could be a World Killer waiting to awaken, a fate she would not wish on her worst enemy. She looked back to the dashboard, it was late morning. She relaxed a little knowing she could at least pick up Ruby later, she longed to hear about her day and chat about her friends or whatever else was occupying her mind.

The car came to a stop once more as another red light glowed at them from the distance. Alex reached out and clicked off the monotone background voice.

"I'm sorry about all this," Alex said. Sam turned to her, Alex seemed genuinely concerned.

"Don't apologise, it's a lot to think about is all," she said.

"No, I rushed you into this. That was my mistake," Alex said.

"Maybe," Sam looked back out the window. "Knowing is certainly harder, but I guess it's better than being blind-sided further down the line."

"I shouldn't have taken you to the DEO so soon, I'm… heavily invested in this World Killer business. I let you pay for it, I should do better for you," Alex said. Sam cocked her head, this woman was being very open for a secret agent.

"I can handle it, lord knows I've had my mettle tested recently. My main concern is my daughter, she's done nothing to deserve all this," she said, gesturing to herself and waggling her artificial fingers. Alex glanced down at her own arms, before moving off the car again.

"Is she bothered by it at all?" Alex asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. At the moment I think she's grateful to have me around again, I do fear my hugs feel a bit weird or when things settle she'll worry about it more," she said. Alex exhaled through her nose sharply, still largely paying attention to the road.

"I guess another reason I wanted you around was the arm, it can be hard. More selfish reasoning I know," Alex said. Sam looked forward to the road, a car horn blared out. It did not make the queue go any faster.

"Why me? I mean you told me you knew about support groups and no-one at your work seems to be concerned," she said.

"I did, but these arms are so effective…" Alex briefly glanced over at her, "I guess it feels like I've cheated. A lot of people who are going through similar injuries will never get anything as advanced," Alex said. Sam inspected her own arm, listening close to the subtle whirs it made when she twisted it round.

"I guess I hadn't really thought about it that way, I still barely believed how I ended up like this and I was there for it all. I guess my head is so wrapped up in aliens and powers that I forgot about normal life. May I ask how it happened to you?" she said. Alex hesitated and rubbed her chin.

"I'm a field agent, front line for some of the weirdest and most dangerous things the city can offer. One day I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," Alex said. Sam nodded, she took it as a roundabout of way of telling her it was classified. "My girlfriend has been so supportive about it all, reassuring me whenever she can and helping me if I need. I just can't help but wonder if it burdens her or forces her to keep at a certain distance."

"I suppose I'm fortunate that Ruby's still at an age that's easy to read," she said. Alex laughed.

"I have training in interrogation and investigation, yet my girlfriend's poker face still leaves me totally stumped," Alex smiled, Sam smiled as well. Alex' concerns were like her own, it was impossible for her to hold a grudge against someone who needed help just like she had.

"Look, I can't say I'm overly grateful for the position I'm in, but it's not your fault. If it's forgiveness you're after, you have it. At this point I just want to do what's best for Ruby," she said.

"Thank you, and whilst it may sound like another recruitment pitch. This World Killer cult could be seriously dangerous, they'd obviously have a direct interest in you. I won't tell you it wouldn't threaten your personal safety confronting them, but the longer they're around the more of a threat they could be," Alex said.

"How much do you know about them? Please tell me they don't know about Ruby," Sam said.

"Our intel is pretty lacking I'm afraid, new info has come in recently but there's still a lot we don't know" the car came to a stop again, there was a long line in front of them and nothing was coming from the other side of the road. It looked like they were going to be sitting there for a while. Alex turned to her "If they knew about you or Ruby they probably would have made a move by now, all we do know for certain is vague descriptions and names of the other World Killers. We've kept an eye on peculiar activity that could relate to it all and have some theories along with possible locations. Nothing around National City you'll be pleased to hear," Alex said.

"What are the other names?" she said, she hoped they would be unfamiliar

"Flower of Heaven, Perrilus and Deimax" Alex said. Sam let out a small sigh of relief when she failed to recognise them, for now it was all she wanted to know.

"I have to say, you're much calmer than most people would be in your circumstances," Alex said. Sam laughed.

"I didn't know what truly constituted a crisis until Ruby came into my life, as good as she is, parenthood can be seriously testing."

"Ha, I'll take your word for it," Alex said. She started to drum on the dashboard. "Traffic hasn't been this bad in a long time, I don't suppose you could look up ahead to see what the stop is?"

"May as well use the perks I guess," Sam said as she focused far forward. "Looks like there's a truck blocking the road."

"I really wish people drove more carefully," Alex said. Sam inspected the scene further.

"It's odd, there doesn't seem to be any damage. The truck's empty," she said. Alex's hands immediately dropped off the steering wheel, one dropping to her holster.

The thunk of the car unlocking sounded off, "Can you take a look around? Something's off." Sam obliged. The scene up ahead seemed uneventful, a few others had left their cars and were inspecting this conspicuous truck. There was a man talking to a police officer. She honed her hearing past the beeping of car horns and idle chatter.

"I don't know, it just turned to cover the road and the driver ran off."

"The block was definitely intentional" she said to Alex. Her hand went from hovering around her holster to arming herself. An aggressive revving from behind caught Sam's attention, she immediately turned to it. A black van turned out from the line behind them and was rocketing up the empty side of the road.

"Errr… Alex?" Sam said, pointing up the road. The van was some ways off, she tried to look inside but her vision was somehow blocked.

"Get behind the car," Alex said. She was hesitant to move, her legs took a little too much time to respond. She had been to slow, the van screeched to a halt in front of her. The burnt rubber from the hard stop reached her nostrils. Adrenaline started to kick in as armed men wearing balaclavas jumped out as the Van's back doors were hurled open.

"Grab them" she heard one say. Each one of them clicked something on their guns and a green tint glowed at the sides. Time slowed down for her as they opened fire and she saw bullets rip through the air with that same green tint flying toward her. She heard screaming and saw people scramble out of their cars. All she could think to do was crouch and try to cover her face. It was like being pelted by rocks. She gritted her teeth as a new sharp pain hit her as each bullet smacked against her. After a few seconds of this the menacing roar of the gunfire finally came to a stop. She stood up, looking down in disbelief at all the squashed metal surrounding her. They had been crushed just by hitting her.

"That should be enough, throw her in the van, You two, go around and grab Danvers."

She painfully stood up and saw a few of the masked men put the guns to their side and went to grab her. As one grabbed her, she carelessly shoved at him with all her strength. He careened to the floor, bouncing along it. More tried to move in, so she carelessly swung at them, trying to keep them back. As the man she had shoved groaned loudly they started to back off.

"It didn't work, she's still too strong."

"Plan B. Keep her supressed and we'll just grab Danvers."

Upon hearing this, she closed her eyes and braced herself again. She moved her artificial arm to try to block her face and body. Another roar of gunfire was concentrated on her. A lot of that same pelting pain came at her, one of the bullets made her knee buckle and it jolted her downward. There was no pain in it and the arm was doing a decent job of protecting her. More bullets drove into it, merciless volleys of gunfire roared at her and it was becoming clear that it lacked the same sturdiness the rest of her body did. The arm began to take chips and scratches as the bullets panged off it. Whilst this happened she could see more men going around the car. Alex was being defiant.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said. She strained to listen in over the gunfire, the headache barely registered as the rest of her body took the consistent beating.

"Unless you want us to start shooting civilians, you will," was the response she got. There was a brief pause in conversation. It was difficult to make out what was happening as the onslaught of gunfire continued. She was sure she heard a gun drop to the ground, when she opened her eyes she saw Alex with her hands up walking around them with a wide both.

"No," Sam said, struggling to a standing position as bullets continued to try and batter her down. There was no let up in the firing line, as she tried to look forward as to what they were doing she clocked that they were reloading at different intervals. She doubted waiting would make any difference, so she struggled forward. Step by agonising step, she inched closed to her attackers through the unrelenting waves of bullets. Her arm started shifting involuntarily and her fingers flexed back and forth seemingly at random. As it shifted away from her face bullets started to pelt where she tried to cover, forcing her to look to the ground and halting her progress.

"I won't let you take her," she said, flinging her arm aside and stamping the ground. There was a thunderous crash, the gunfire stopped, glass shattered all around her. A tremendous force blasted into her, she dug in her heels. She slid back several feet, it crunched grooves in the concrete and she crashed into the car behind with a hard thud. She felt slightly dizzy and her vision was taking a moment to come into focus. She was embedded into the car's side, she pulled herself out. The ache in her back was palpable and debris and shattered glass rolled off her. It was unclear what she had done but the armed men in front of her had been flung from their positions.

It did not take her long to notice something was not right. The crack in the tarmac where she had stamped barely reached the firing line and the floored men that had not been catapulted behind her already were scrambling toward her rather than away. As she slowly craned her aching neck upward, she saw what was left of the van. It had crumpled from the from the top, splitting it in half. Standing at this point of impact was a shining red blur. As her eyes came into focus she could see the distinctive black and red uniform, the "S" symbol amongst that threatening circle glowing out just as brightly as her ring's aura. There was pure fury in her eyes directed straight at her. One of the men dangled limp in her hand. She had to assume it was the driver, as the crumpled front half of the van lay empty.

"Supergirl, don't…" Sam snapped back round to the voice, it was a man standing next to Alex with a gun pointing at her. That was as many words as he got out before the driver's unconscious body rag-dolled into him, knocking the gun out of his hand and sending him clattering into the street. Now empty-handed, Supergirl stepped off the van and squared up to her, that stare of hers never breaking.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Supergirl said, a growl creeping into her voice. Before Sam could respond a blue-skinned woman in a similar uniform with wings of bone fluttered down beside her.

"Oh my dear, she really doesn't like you," the winged woman said.


	28. Conflict

"Bleez, round these people up," Supergirl said, not breaking eye contact with Sam. She was still recovering from Supergirl's violent entrance, worried about moving whilst under the sinister glare.

"Get what information you can from them, no unnecessary violence," Supergirl said.

"I think I should say the same thing to you," Bleez smirked as she spoke, Supergirl shot her look. It was a pleasant respite from the drilling eyes. Staying upright was already difficult after the beating she had taken from the gunfire, what made it worse was her prosthetic was working with a mind of its own. It uncontrollably twitched whilst her fingers refused to stay still, clenching and unclenching into a fist with no real rhyme or rhythm. There were pains all over her body, she winced as she brushed the rubble off herself. She inhaled sharply at each pat, there was no part of her body that was not aching. Her haywire arm occasionally whipped back into her to aggravate the bruising even more. Supergirl had stopped bickering with Bleez and turned her attention back Sam's way. A strong red glow emitted from her, she squared her shoulders and stepped right up to her. There was an intense heat coming from it as Supergirl got too close for comfort.

"I don't suppose you could cut this off again?" Sam said, she stuttered as she spoke and gestured to her flailing arm. Levity was all she could think to do. Her first memory after Reign left her mind was looking up at the red Supergirl. She had tried to keep up with Supergirl's movements when she was recovering at the fortress. She bore no grudge against her, Reign deserved what she got and whatever Supergirl had done expelled her from her mind.

"I said, what are you doing here?" Supergirl said, baring her teeth at her and pulling her even closer. Being pulled forward aggravated her already beaten body, the heat from Supergirl's hands started to singe her shirt. Despite Supergirl being slightly shorter, it felt like she was being dwarfed by her. The heat from the aura and heavy breaths burned against her skin, she could hear faint growling with every breath. She awkwardly craned her neck backward to get as much distance as possible without testing the iron grip that had pulled her in. She held her breath, the aching aggravated every motion she made. The scowling powerhouse who had taken hold of her was glaring right into her eyes.

"We were attacked, by whoever these people are," she said. Supergirl let her go, Sam stepped back and a let the rush of she had held air escape her lungs, only after being let go did she notice how tense her body had been. She wanted to stretch out but feared for the bruising's reaction.

"Bleez, who are they?" Supergirl said.

"Still working on it, darling," Bleez said. Supergirl stared her down for a while longer, the strength of the red glow dimmed slightly as she backed off. She bent down and inspected what was left of the bullets that were littered around her.

"Kryptonite infused…" She looked back at her. "Where's agent Danvers?"

"They were trying to take her…" she said. Alex jogged over.

"I'm here, I'm here. Just calling in back-up and trying to keep the public away," Alex said. Sam wilted back slightly, no grudge or not she wanted nothing more than to keep her distance from Supergirl. She grabbed her artificial arm by the wrist to try and steady it, more than happy to let Alex do the talking.

"Why is Reign with you?" Supergirl said.

"Ms. Arias was with me regarding D.E.O. matters, Supergirl. I was driving her home," Alex said. There was an odd amount of animosity from someone whose life was just saved. Supergirl flared her nostrils and exhaled sharply. One of the attackers cried out as he was thrown at their feet.

"This one tells me he's feeling co-operative," Bleez said, stretching out her boned winds to their full span as she yawned. Alex eyed this new arrival with suspicion, before her attention was drawn to the man on the floor. Sam inspected him closer, X-ray vision revealed he had significantly more broken ribs than the rest of them.

"We can interrogate him back at headquarters, now isn't the time or the place," Alex said.

"He talks now, or he doesn't talk at all," Supergirl said. No matter what she was doing, Supergirl's focus kept coming back to Sam. She was still doing her best to keep her arm under control, though each piercing glare thrown her way seemed to hit harder than the bullets.

"This is the D.E.O.'s jurisdiction. Thank you for your help, but we'll take it from here," Alex said. Sam was taken aback at how firm Alex had been. She was still struggling to even look at Supergirl standing this close, it was difficult not to shy away from her intensity. Supergirl rolled her eyes and picked up the man by the neck.

"Who do you work for?" Supergirl said, Alex watched on with her own intense look as the man tried to splutter out words. "You know, I've never tested just exactly how hard I have to squeeze to break a neck in half."

"CADMUS, we're with CADMUS," he blurted out through coughs.

"Supergirl, I can't let you…" Alex started.

"He's talking, don't you have a crowd to control?" She said, looking over as a few of the public started to edge toward them. Alex huffed.

"If you hurt him at all, this will not end well for any of us," Alex said.

"Unless our friend here gives her a reason, I'd say we're fine my dear, Supergirl really is quite the soft touch," Bleez chimed in. She was merrily weaving between the other attackers, the conscious ones were on their knees. Alex met Supergirl's gaze for a moment, before backing off and doing what she could to disperse the public. Supergirl's gaze once again flitted toward Sam before she went back to her victim. Even though he had spent the last few minutes shooting her, she could not help but feel bad for the man.

"Awfully bold to attack people out in the street," Supergirl said.

"It was supposed to be a quick grab, we were told to watch D.E.O. HQ and take targets of interest if we had the chance," he said, rasping as he spoke on the verge of tears.

"You've always had the information and resources to do something like this. Why so reckless and why now?" She said, her voice leaned more into that growl as she spoke. She could see her grip start to tighten, the man could barely speak and his legs starting to spasm. As his face began to turn an alarming shade of purple it became too hard to watch.

"You're killing him," she said. Supergirl turned slowly to her, her eye was twitching as she glared directly at her once more. Sam took a step back and looked down, almost regretting speaking up. There was a thump as the man clattered to the ground, he twisted awkwardly and looked up at Sam.

"Thank you," he wheezed at her. Supergirl crouched beside him.

"Answer me," she said.

"We know the D.E.O. is stretched thin, we've been raiding their supplies, we were told now's the best time to try and capture some of their people. That's all I know, I swear," he said, the desperation had not left his tone and he was doing his best to crawl back away from her. Supergirl advanced with his whimpering retreat.

"Nothing to do with her," Supergirl said, pointing at Sam. "Nothing about World Killers?"

"We only knew about Reign, I don't know what else you mean, please don't hurt me," the man groaned.

"Useless," Supergirl said through gritted teeth. They both turned as sirens started to blare out in the distance. "More D.E.O.. Bleez, we're leaving," Supergirl said as she started to hover

"Just as things are getting fun?" Bleez said, she drifted lazily toward her.

"We have more to discuss and we aren't doing it here," Supergirl said, she shot upward. The force blew Alex's hair back and she had to steady herself. The force brushed hard against her aching skin. Bleez watched Supergirl arc upward. Before she set off Bleez looked right at Sam.

"You, my dear, are lucky she has so much self-control," Bleez said.

"You call that self-control?" Sam said, looking down at the whimpering victim. Bleez laughed out loud.

"She was harbouring so much rage I'm surprised everyone lived to tell this tale. As I said, soft touch," Bleez said. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she felt a chill down her spine. It distracted her enough that she loosened the grip on her arm, it's new bout of twitching brought her back down to earth. She shook off the chill and promptly steadied herself, the flailing arm happily reminding her how odd everything was. Steering into the skid had always been a strength of hers, no use stopping now.

"Need a hand?" Bleez said with a sultry smile. Sam pushed past the joke and let go of her arm.

"Would you?" She said, Bleez seemed taken aback by the candid response. She put her ring near the top of the twitching arm, there was a small jolt of red and her arm finally came to a halt.

"Thanks," she said, grateful that it was just hanging limp and not doing its best to keep hitting her.

"Gladly. It's been a pleasure," she said before gently drifting away, rotating slowly upward and letting her wings flap out before shooting off in a similar manner to her counterpart. As cars arrived at the scene and D.E.O. agents started to file out of them, Alex made her way over and started issuing orders. She stood there awkwardly whilst the scene was brought under control and the attackers were rounded up, she prodded at her arm to see if there was any life in it whatsoever. Now she had some time to get a proper look at it she could see just how bad a state it was in. The upper section was barely still attached, only a few miserable looking joints doing their best to hold it together. There was also nearly nothing left of the casing on her forearm, wires poked out in random directions and the smell of fried, exposed circuitry tickled her nose. The poor thing looked to be as far from a working state as she could imagine. The pain from hail of bullets was starting to dull, though it still ached when she moved too quickly. Once things were starting to calm down and the agents were starting to settle with their orders, Alex came back.

"I imagine that was quite the ordeal, are you okay?" Alex asked.

"I'll live," Sam said, before doing her best to relay the information Supergirl had gotten from her interrogation.

"Thanks for telling me, if I'd known CADMUS would be so aggressive so fast I certainly would have left you alone," Alex said.

"He said we're targets of interest. Does that put Ruby in danger?"

"CADMUS may be bold, but they aren't stupid. They lost a lot of men today, men that can tell us what they know. We'll keep a close eye and I'll keep you informed if we think there's any more threat from them," Alex said.

"I have to ask, what was up with Supergirl. That friend of hers said I'm lucky to be alive," she said. Alex let out a long sigh.

"There's not a whole lot I can tell you, it's tied to the remaining World Killers. You probably gathered she doesn't work with us. It makes things complicated, it's also another reason we're spread so thin. Losing her… it's put a lot of strain on an already strained department. Worst of all there isn't a lot we can do about CADMUS except defend ourselves," Alex said. Sam thought of Ruby and the entire mess she had been unwillingly pulled into.

"If I help you with this World Killer business, can I then be done with all of this nonsense and go back to life with my daughter," Sam said.

"I wish I could tell you that you could walk away from all this, that we could protect you and Ruby, but I can't," Alex sighed. "I don't want to force you into anything or think we're extorting you and we will do everything we can to keep you safe if you want nothing to do with us. But I can't guarantee there won't be more violence or targeting." Sam took in a deep breath and looked at all the destruction around her, it was horrible to take in, but if she could survive this then it felt worth the risk.

"I think it'd be better to face the problem head on than wait on the side-lines and hope for the best. But I'll have to check with Ruby first, she has to know I'll be in harm's way and has to be given the chance to tell me not to," she said. Alex looked conflicted.

"Contact me when you've made a decision, the sooner we start, the sooner we can end this," Alex said, she looked like she wanted to say more but refrained.

"I can arrange for you to be driven home still," Alex said.

"No it's alright, I'll make my own way," she said.

"Thank you, for what you've done today," Alex said.

"Same to you," Sam said before moving off. She had no real idea of what she was doing, every way of moving forward seemed like a bad one. She took a breath and thought to herself to think one step at a time. It was still early in the day. Her arm dangled carelessly beside her. The best course of action appeared to be a trip to see Lena, driving Ruby too and from School would be tricky with one working arm.

Lena gladly dropped what she was doing to help her and before long she found herself in a lab again. Lena had let her borrow a set of clothes that hadn't been shredded by bullets. It was oddly comfortable to be in business wear again. Lena merrily rolled between workbenches to use various tools and checking readouts. She pulled on thick work-gloves and knocked down what looked like a welding mask over her face. She meddled with the arm further, a tool she didn't recognise was sparking brightly each time it touched the arm. The occasional mild twitch in the arm was all she managed as Lena poked different sections.

"The news report mentioned a lot of gunfire, but did you have to take every single one to the arm?" Lena's voice was slightly muffled behind the mask.

"I'll ask them to aim elsewhere next time," Sam said, Lena was always more at ease with lab equipment to play with. She rolled back on her chair, the wheels making a satisfying whoosh along the hard floor. She lifted up the mask to reveal a smiling face. She pivoted on the chair and reached for a small tablet to tap away on.

"The good news is, physically you're fine. There'll be a fair amount of bruising from the more concentrated fire, but it will heal fast and it seems you rank high on the bullet-proof side of things. The bad news is, the arm is done for. I don't know how it happened, but the circuitry is totally fried and I'm getting some odd energy readings from it. You said there was Kryptonite involved, were there any other elements to the rounds?" Lena said.

"The bullets, no. The arm was out of control so Supergirl's sidekick jolted it with that ring of hers. Lena looked confused.

"Sidekick?" Lena said.

"She called her Bleez, had a similar symbol, without the "S" and wore the same red and black colour scheme," she said. Lena pouted.

"Right… well anyway, I'm afraid the best way forward is to remove the arm and construct a new one," Lena stood up and started arranging the tools back to their rightful places. "It'll likely take a few days to sort things out and wrangle the materials under the radar.

"Are you sure that's okay, I don't want to cause trouble," she said.

"Well, I'm using my own money and I'm free to use any L-Corp equipment as I see fit. So I'd say there's no trouble," Lena said.

"I didn't mean it like that, I meant your time and effort. You provided me with top of the line equipment and I bring it back wrecked a few days later," she said, Lena smiled.

"Trust me, doing this is far more worth my time than L-Corp business at the moment. And whilst I'm always happy to help, I would quite like to know what you were doing with agent Danvers. Her line of work is pretty dangerous," Lena said.

"A day after I got back she said she was with the FBI and they were checking on me, she also told me they could use my expertise," she said, Lena stroke her chin.

"Of course they did, I thought you wanted some time," Lena said.

"I did, but I must admit I underestimated how accepting everyone would be. Got myself a lot more worked up than I needed to. Despite that I still left it be, I wanted to make sure I was properly settled, you know?" she said.

"Makes sense, what changed?" Lena said.

"A strange man appeared at my house recently. Told me Alex was lying to me and actually works for a department called the D.E.O.. He also called me Reign. I was worried so I called Alex, she told me to come in and identify him. When I got there it became clear this man was telling me the truth. Next thing I know there are more World Killers to worry about and to make things worse, even the journey home becomes a lot more eventful than I'd like," she said.

"The D.E.O. do good work, they helped me a lot with keeping things quiet with you and Ruby. Though they can be… clumsy, at times. For instance, I am not amused at how quickly they've swooped in for you," Lena said, she thought for a moment longer. "A very select few people know about you, tell me about this man."

"He told me to call him Spark…" she began, a hint of recognition appeared on Lena's face, she sighed heavily.

"Let me guess. Hoodie, acts like knowing everything is not big deal, oddly chipper at the worst possible moment?" Lena said.

"You know him?" She asked.

"He's a… an associate of mine. A fan of memorable names. Not sure what he's playing at surprising you like that though," Lena said.

"Should I be worried?" she said, Lena seemed distracted.

"Hmm? Oh, no. He's a good man at heart… I think… and certainly doesn't mean you any harm. If he does anything like that or you see him again, you're better off calling me than the D.E.O.," Lena said.

"The D.E.O. did seem to be on to him, should I cover for him like that?" She said. Lena's apparent distrust of the D.E.O. was unsettling, there was likely more to the story. However, Lena had more than proven in the past month that she was looking out for her, the D.E.O. had lied to her from day one. If anything, Lena had earned the benefit of the doubt a lot more than them.

"Trust me, if the D.E.O. found anything on him it was because he let them," Lena said.

"You're probably right, all they had on him was a false driver's licence with the initials D.E.O." Lena smirked. "Which was registered to their headquarters' address." Lena's smirk rose to a chuckle.

"I have to hand it to him, that's a good one," Lena sat back down and rolled back over to one of work benches, she took the welding mask off. She shifted through the various tools sitting on the work bench, they lightly tapped against each other as she eventually found some safety glasses to put on. "I'm not going to tell you how to move forward, it's your life. Just be careful when dealing with the D.E.O., they have to worry about the big picture so their methods can cause a lot of collateral damage. And as you've discovered yourself, associating with them potentially puts you in the crosshairs of a lot of other people. As she spoke, she got out a threatening looking tool with a narrow drill-bit attached. Sam eyed it up and down wearily.

"What's that for?" she said.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt," Lena said, lining it up with a small gap at the top of the arm joint. There was an odd needling sensation as Lena pushed it in. It tingled as it whirred to life, pulling at the joint slightly. "Hold on, only seven more times," Lena moved her arm for the next slot and repeated this process, holding occasionally holding on to her shoulder to steady herself. The grip felt like nothing, especially compared to Supergirl holding on to her and staring her down. She shuddered slightly.

"Hold still, please," Lena said, now concentrated entirely on her work.

She had time to think as the pressure on her arm started to loosen and promptly realised she had no idea where to go from here. Alex seemed so sincere in her request, yet Lena seemed to think Spark was more reliable. Most of her wanted to give up on it all and just think about picking Ruby up from school. With this thought she noticed she would be leaving Lena one arm down. She waited for Lena to finish up detaching the sorry-looking arm before speaking up.

"I don't suppose you have a temporary replacement so I can pick Ruby up?" she asked. Lena looked around the lab, spinning in her chair to look at the different sections. It seemed like she was genuinely curious if she could whip something up with the random parts at her disposal.

"I doubt I could throw together something that would 100% work, probably easier just to ask my driver," Lena said, the lifeless arm flopped miserably in her hand

"It's fine, I was joking. I can just arrange a cab or something," she said.

"Ah. Right. Well the offer's there," Lena said.

"You've already done more than enough for me," she said.

"If you're sure," she stood up again. "Despite the circumstances, I'm glad you could stop by. I'll contact you when the replacement is ready to go," she said. Sam wanted to give Lena a hug, but Lena would usually flinch when she tried. In the moment she took to think, Lena held her arms out. She was surprised by the offer and could sense the minor discomfort Lena felt. Despite this she leaned in and gave her a quick hug.

"Thank you," she said.

"Stay safe. And remember, if you see Spark, come to me first," Lena said. She pulled away, putting the arm aside and started clearing up the cluttered lab equipment.


End file.
